EU - Uganda Partnership magazine

Volume 08, 2015

European Union

European Union Member States in Uganda

Austria

BELGIUM

DENMARK

France

German

Ireland

ITALY

Netherlands

Sweden

UNITED KINGDOM

Coordinator JUSTIN K. OJANGOLE jojangole@haiagency.com Director Sales CHARLES OPOLOT copolot@haiagency.com Editorial SHARON M. OMURUNGI BENON H. OLUKA PAUL MUGABI Contributors EU Member States in Uganda EMMANUEL D. GYEZAHO Sales & Marketing GEORGE OMODING KOSTA OPOLOT Design & Layout PETER MUGENI mugeni2010@gmail.com For further Information, Please contact; HAI Agency (U) Ltd. P.O. Box 24413 Kampala-Uganda JK Building behind Apex House Tel: +256 (0) 414 223 507 +256 (0) 772/702 408 915 Website:www.haiagency.com

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Contents...

2 | Minister’s Foreword 4 | HoD’s Message 12 | EU support to the road sector 22 | ASARECA: Celebrating 20 years of partnership with the EU 34 | EU support to Women’s rights in Northern Uganda and West Nile 40| Farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda Call for Governments’ Policy Action on Reducing PostHarvest Losses 48 | EU - support to Uganda’s Forestry Sector 55 | Austrian Development Cooperation in Uganda

58 | Belgium – Uganda Cooperation 62| Denmark - aBi promotes private sector agribusiness in Uganda 65 | France: Supporting a climate resilient development strategy in Uganda 68 | Ugandan German Development Cooperation 72 | Ireland: Forging Strong Partnerships in Uganda 75 | Italian Cooperation in Uganda 77 | The Netherlands and Uganda 78 | Sweden in Uganda 80 | United Kingdom

Hon Matia Kasaijja, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

Minister’s Foreword

Uganda applauds the European Union for support Celebrating four decades of cooperation and partnership The 10th European Development Fund (EDF)has been critical in the transformation of the lives of Ugandans, especially those that had been affected by conflict, drought and elements of negative social norms in North-eastern Uganda, Karamoja and Northern Uganda.

The EU has been Uganda’s dependable partner in our quest for an efficient roads infrastructure, especially by supporting the reconstruction and modernization of the Northern Corridor Route. The support to roads infrastructure development enhances this country’s strategy for regional integration, to benefit from the regional markets and facilitates Uganda’s response strategy for benefiting from EAC-EU Economic Partner Agreement which has been initialed but yet to be concluded. On this note, I urge the EAC and its Member States to fast tract its conclusion.

Over the just-concluded EDF, Ugandans have benefit-

ted from €465million. The support to Uganda’s budget was invested in various aspects of development to enhance the drive towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the quest for middle income statehood.

Similarly, I want to underscore the role of the EU and its Member States in shaping the discussions that are framing the post 2015 MDG era. The Government of Uganda will always remember the support of the EU that largely assisted in combating the negative effects of financial and economic crisis, climate change and other related disasters while promoting the stability of food security.

I urge the EU and its Member States to support the continued ACP-EU partnership as a sustainable alliance for global public goods provision and improving human development beyond the 2020 framework.

The role of the EU in this respect can never be underestimated

The Government of Uganda appreciates the contribution of the EU and its Member States in supporting the regional peace missions in Somalia and Southern Sudan, not forgetting the support given towards combating terrorism and promotion of good governance and accountability in partnership with the able and good leadership of the NRM Government.

The NRM Government on behalf of all Ugandans is looking forward to further cooperation with the EU over 11th EDF and beyond. I take the opportunity to encourage fellow Ugandans to be amenable of working with the EU to realize the objectives of 11th EDF. I would like to assure the EU of our gratitude for the support it continues to provide which augment government progamme support.

Hon. Matia Kasaijja Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development/National Authorising Officer for EDF.

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The EU is proud of Uganda’s partnership A strong proponent of dialogue between Uganda and the European Union, the EU Head of Delegation to Uganda, H.E Ambassador Kristian Schmidt notes: “I am pleased with what I have seen--we are on a very good track with Uganda on the issues that address all the challenges we face as a human race.” In this interview, Amb. Schmidt details his impressions of Uganda, sixteen months on the job and speaks about what the future holds for EU-Uganda relations. Excerpts below; What is the theme for this year’s Europe Day celebration?

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This year has been designated as the “European Year for Development”. It is for the whole world because we thought there was every reason to celebrate development cooperation which is in Europe’s history, going back more than 50years. We have

H.E Ambassador Kristian Schmidt

gone through a financial crisis in Europe a couple of years ago and it is good to celebrate that we are capable of continuing this legacy of development cooperation.

How does it feel that Europe and Uganda are celebrating 40 years of cooperation?

I am immensely proud of this celebration. What started out as a bilateral relation has developed into a relationship that nearly relates to all areas of human endeavour. When I talk of Uganda as EU counterparts, it’s about global challenges; climate change, human and weapons trafficking in the world. It shows that also Uganda is a relevant player in the world with a finger in every issue. Take the Ebola crisis in West Africa a couple of months ago, as an example. Ugandan doctors and nurses did an extremely good job. Europe was engaged on the ground and also brought all the affected countries together at a conference in Brussels.

What would you say to stakeholders of this friendship in Europe and Uganda?

To the Europeans, “Do not underestimate the potential of doing business in Uganda.” There is a lot of ignorance in Europe and the West about Africa. I would like to re-assure Europeans that life can be stable, comfortable, profitable and certainly rewarding in terms of human contacts and

friendships. To Ugandans, “Do not underestimate Europe as a market, it is open and tariffs’-free to Ugandan products with neither quotas nor customs levies”. We can also do business as partners in advancing the universal values on democracy and human rights.

What is the significance of the European Development Fund (EDF) to the economy and the beneficiaries’ livelihoods?

It is immense. A partner country sets the priorities rather than the dictates of the donors. The programming of EDF funds is by the Ugandan counterparts in discussions with the EU. Over the next EDF (2014-2020), Uganda government wants to improve infrastructure, rural development agriculture and good governance. For the next 6years, Europe’s contribution to development cooperation will be €578million. When many donors are finding it very difficult to keep the pace, we are slightly increasing our cooperation with Uganda.

This is an arrangement that has proven reliable and stable despite the economic difficulties.

Please take us through the achievements of the 10th EDF implementation and the impact of the implemented programmes.

Uganda has made progress on the Millennium Development Goals by halving poverty and reducing

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malnutrition. On infrastructure, a very high priority for the last five to 10 years, if you travel around the country, you will see many signs of the EUfunded roads and they are still in a good shape. We take pride in ensuring that we build quality. It is also important that Uganda government’s disarmament of northern Uganda and Karamoja was a success. We are proud of our partnership immediately after the return of peace and stability in that region that has ensured the population benefits from the peace. Two important programmes; KALIP and ALREP, the development programmes that have supported livelihoods, agriculture in Karamoja and northern Uganda have recently closed. Clearly, these two flagship programmes have delivered.

(OPM) scandal which led a number of donors to pull out of the budget support. We learnt that when a problem arises you have to fix it.

Uganda’s government took a number of very important steps to remedy the systemic causes of that scandal; disciplinary procedures were invoked. Rather than run away, development partners faced it together with our Ugandan counterparts. When there is good will on both sides we will get through as we did. With Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), we believe there is a challenge in our collaboration; UNRA is central to the EU because we build many of roads together. We look forward to finding solutions and avoid money misspending.

What are the challenges, opportunities and lessons derived from the implementation of the 10th EDF?

How would you rate Uganda’s development performance in utilising development support?

Last year we had our controversies with the Ugandan government because of the anti-homosexuality legislation. It was a challenge because of the differences on core values like anti-discrimination and human rights. But the strength and lesson is that keeping cool heads and discussing the opinion differences with mutual respect, is an important working method of keeping this partnership.

Uganda’s 6% economic growth over many decades is good by African standards. Europe is growing at less than 2%, so Uganda is catching up. We do have concerns though that the social sectors are suffering. The priorities are very much on infrastructure, security, police and army, while the trend is declining in health and education. We worry that this could lead to a rise in social inequality. On Uganda’s development performance, I have some concern on its sustainability and whether the quality of education and healthcare will not over time undermine some of these achievements.

Corruption has affected development cooperation, notably the Office of the Prime Minister

Why has the EU found it prudent to increase the 11th EDF to Uganda to €578 million?

It comes from our continued commitment to our

with the existing malnutrition in parts of the country. One cannot conclude that the job is done and Uganda is soon becoming a middle income country. The increase is a combination of different factors; child mortality and maternal health, the MDG targets that have not been met. We feel a responsibility to continue to work on issues like climate change that was not caused by Uganda. We also feel obligated to jointly continue working on global problems like HIV/AIDS that we cannot eradicate in one country without eradicating it globally.

What is the focus of this funding and why?

The First Lady and Minister for Karamoja Affairs Mrs. Janet Museveni and the EU Head of Delegation in Uganda, H.E Amb. Kristian Schmidt, launching one of the EU projects in Karamoja region.

development cooperation, as it is clear that Uganda remains on the list of countries with wide-spread poverty, particularly in its north. It also has to do

This is not a decision the EU has taken alone. It was through dialogue, considering the National Development Plan (NDP) and Vision 2040, Uganda’s development priorities and then a discussion of the focal areas. We agreed on good governance and accountability; infrastructure-the roads and water transport and a continued commitment to northern Uganda, in particular, agriculture. In the long term, raw commodities’ exportation is not a recipe for Uganda’s wealth creation, there has to be more private sector operations like coffee, cotton and other agricultural products’ processing before export. These are the three main working areas with our partners in Uganda.

Please remind us of why it is not “business as usual” with Uganda’s transportation and how the € 200 million set aside for transport sector until 2020 will be utilised.

The spending of €200 million will depend on the success of implementation in this sector. If the progress is not good, we could spend less and move some of it to another sector where things are working better. It is ‘not business as usual’ with the transport sector because we do not think it is good enough to deal with one road at a time; the whole sector needs to work together as a whole, starting with clean procurement procedures. Our worry is because we deal with systems through which procurement decisions are made. While investing a lot of money, it is not business as usual. We hope UNRA’s new Executive Director will work on these points.

What else would you like to say of the EUUganda development cooperation?

Our relations are now perhaps better than ever, and they have to be because the needs are greater than ever. This is not just about Europe and Uganda addressing issues inside Uganda, it is the questions of trafficking, migration, and climate change; the issues that address all the challenges we face as a human race. Therefore, that dialogue has to work. I am pleased with what I have seen after the first year and a half here--we are on very good track with Uganda on these issues.

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Improving community livelihoods and biodiversity conservation through Payments for Ecosystem Services and tourism development in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park region

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wenzori Mountains National Park (RMNP) was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar Site in 1994 and 2009 respectively. The Park is home to threatened mammals such as the Rwenzori leopard, Rwenzori red duiker, the African elephant and chimpanzees. The Mountain’s glaciers, waterfalls and lakes make it one of the most beautiful alpine areas in Africa. The Rwenzori Mountains also known as “Mountains of The Moon,” is a unique hiking tourist destination and global biodiversity hotspot with a variety of landscapes and species that provide essential ecosystem services such as carbon storage, forests and water catchments.

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RMNP is a key resource, safeguarding water

for approximately two million people and the surrounding industrial users. The Rwenzori region has an annual population growth rate of 5% and is currently with 805,000 people. With this population growth there is a risk of heavy dependence on the park leading to increase in erosion and eventual watershed degradation and sedimentation of the rivers.

WWF Uganda Country Office, with funds from European Union (EU) and French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), in partnership with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and the Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM), have committed themselves to secur-

ing the integrity of the Rwenzori Mountains, the biodiversity, as well as support livelihood improvement among communities living in the region. This is currently being done through the Sustainable Financing of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park (SFRMNP) project.

The project seeks to improve the way poor and vulnerable communities utilize natural resources.

This is being done by demonstrating a sustainable manner in which natural resources can be utilised over a long period of time. The project proposes several approaches including establishing long term sources of funding for RMNP and the local communities through a pilot Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Scheme, rewarding landowners for improving their land manage-

tion from our implementing partners, District Local Governments of Kasese, Kabarole, Ntoroko and Bundibugyo, private companies, other resource users and local communities,� he says.

ment practices and catchment management. A total of 911 land owners from 14 Water User Groups (WUGs) have so far been trained in the implementation of catchment management interventions, tree planting, siltation and sediment management, soils and water conservation, marking and vegetating of the riparian land and woodlot establishment.

To increase the amount of revenue from tourism, the project has also embarked on raising profiles of the unique terrain, mammals, vegetation, bird species so as to improve on their appeal and attractiveness. This

is being done through community based tourism initiatives to ensure that the local communities are the immediate beneficiaries but also play an active role in the conservation aspect.

Richard Mwesigwa, the Project Manager, who has led the project since its inception is pleased with the level the community members are responding to the initiative. “We anticipate a successful implementation process and believe that the impact of the project on these communities and the environment will be highly rewarding. We look forward to continued coopera-

For more information: WWF Uganda Country Office Plot 2, Sturrock road, Kololo, P. O. Box 8758, Kampala Tel: +256 (0)414-540064/5 Email:kampala@wwfuganda.org Web: panda.org/Uganda WWF Uganda @WWFUganda

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Enhancing compliance and regulation of timber harvesting and trade in Uganda WWF with funding from EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), carried out a study on timber trade in Uganda which established that 80% of the trade is illegal causing the government to lose UShs23bn (US$ 9.8 million) annually or an equivalent to felling 5600ha of plantations a year. Following the study, several recommendations were made and are being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Water and Environment, Forestry Sector Support Department.

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Systems, processes and regulations for timber harvesting and trade have been revised, simplified, translated and popularized to cater for forests on both public and private land. This information has been disseminated to Local Governments, private individuals, timber traders, pit-sawyers and saw millers.

Effort has been made through working with public procurement systems to exclude illegal timber.

Timber traders associations have been strengthened to become entry points for legal trade in Mbale, Wakiso and Mbarara districts through organizational development and exposed them to more efficient modern timber harvesting equipment that reduce waste.

Public and private institutions that are willing to buy and trade in legal timber have been mapped out to serve as a basis for improving on timber legality in the country.ยบ

UGANDA NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY

Congratulations As the European Union (EU) marks Europe Day this year, it is opportune for us at Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to reflect on the journey the EU and UNRA have traveled together over the years.

The EU has been and remains a dependable partner in the development of our national roads sector. Its contribution has enabled Ugandans to improve their standards of living, thanks to the faster and more efficient transportation. With more support already pledged, this will only get better.

We wish our EU partner and the individual Member States prosperity.

Ambassador Kristian Schmidt (L) and President Yoweri Museveni during the ground breaking of the Kampala Northern Bypass Capacity Upgrade Project.

EU support to the road sector

UGANDA NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY

Since 1996, the Government of Uganda policy has been focused on improved transport and communication infrastructure for accelerated development and consolidation of national unity. In that regard, a road programme – “the Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP)” was developed with the focus of providing a safe and efficient road network by removing the existing major transport flow constraints from the network, with emphasis on the classified road network over the programme period.

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R-L Museveni, EU Ambassador Kristian Schmidt and Contractor Gilberto Rodgrigues flag off Northern By-Pass.

Originally estimated at US$1.5 billion, the programme is co-financed by the Government, and various development partners including the European Union (EU), the African Development Bank (ADB), the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank, and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Other donors include Kreditan fur Wiederaufbau (KWF), Nordic Development Fund (NDF), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD), IRC (Ireland), Department for International Development of UK (DFID) etc.

The European Union has provided significant support to the Road Sector in Uganda under the European Development Fund (EDF). The European Union and GOU are co-funding a number of road networks and projects. These include: -

Completed Projects Jinja-Bugiri Road(72km)

This is a key link on the Northern Corridor Route linking Uganda to the sea. The project was funded by the EU and GoU. It was completed and is now under the defect liability period. The main activities were building works for a new Border Post at Malaba and reconstruction works for JinjaBugiri Road (72.8km), a section of the Northern

Jinja-Bugiri Road built to high standards.

■■ Lira – Kamudini a total length of 111.5km.

■■ Kampala-Mukono and Kampala-Kawempe with a total length of 23.3km.

■■ Masaka – Kyotera road (38.3km) and Nyendo - Villa Maria road (10.4km) with total length of 48.7km.

■■ Mbarara-Ishaka road (58.8km) and Ishantu-Bwizibwera road (20km) and MbararaKatete (3.9km) with total length of 82.7km.

Masaka-Mbarara (154km)

Corridor Route. Malaba post: works commenced in February 2002 and were completed in October 2003. Jinja - Bugiri Road: works commenced on 1 July 2006 and were substantially completed on 13 October 2009

Backlog road Maintenance programme

This project comprised periodic maintenance, strengthening and spot rehabilitation interventions on approximately 400km of paved roads spread across the country on the national road network. Its primary objective was to stem the growing national road maintenance backlog hence preserving the high investment Government has made in developing the paved road infrastructure as well as reduce total transportation costs. The projects covered the following roads;

Masaka-Mbarara Road (154km) started in 2008 and this link is funded by the EU and GoU. This project was completed substantially in 2012. The completed road was handed over in August 2012.

A section of the Mbarara - Masaka Road

On-going Projects Mbarara-Katuna (124km)

The reconstruction of Mbarara-Ntungamo-KabaleKatuna road (124km) is nearing completion. The road is expected to be completed by June 2015. The reconstruction project involves upgrading the road to a class 1 paved road with 7m carriage way width and 1.5m paved shoulders.

The Government of Uganda obtained grants from the European Development Fund towards the cost of the design (EDF 9) and reconstruction (EDF 10) of the priority section of the Northern Corridor Route (NCR) from Mbarara through Ntungamo and Kabale to Katuna. The reconstruction of the Mbarara to Katuna section of the NCR was tendered as two Contracts, namely Lot 2 from 36km to 95km and Lot 3 from 95km to 160km at Katuna. The EU is providing over â‚Ź129million for the project.

Artistic impression for Kampala Northern Bypass, BukotoInterchange

of September 2009. The second phase which involves expansion of the Kampala Northern by-pass began last year and the construction is estimated to last about 36 months.

Kampala Northern Bypass (21km)

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This road is intended to decongest Kampala City by diverting transit trucks heading to western Uganda, Rwanda and eastern D.R Congo. The EU grant was used for civil works and supervision, while the Government bore the cost of land acquisition. This project is very important to the development of Uganda in general and Kampala in particular. The first phase for Kampala Northern Bypass was completed at the end

Other EU supported projects include the construction of Aswa Bridge, Awoja bridge, upgrade of Kagamba-Rukugiri road and the rehabilitation of district roads with a total of 1,315km in Bugiri, Tororo, Jinja, Mukono, Wakiso, Mpigi, Masaka and Karamoja.

Receiving Uganda’s President at the Kampala Northern Bypass at Namboole

EU in UNRA Bridges Support Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA)’s more than 22’000km roads network has 520 bridges, most of them built before 1960 and now characterized by low load carrying capacity vis-à-vis the modern national transport needs.

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NRA’s main corridors are MalabaKampala-Kabale; Kampala-Gulu-Nimule and Karuma-Sudan/Congo. Along the secondary corridors, the conditions of most bridges are fair to good, but some are very poor. Their hydraulic capacity--the openings and clearings for water flow are low; they overflow and the approach roads are washed away--the bridges are damaged and roads closed.

The European Union (EU)’s response to Uganda’s need to keep its vital roads open was the upgrade support for the bridges at Aswa on Gulu-Kitgum Road and Awoja along Mbale-Soroti Road which the 2012 El-Niño rains were threatening.

The two had become structurally weak and were overflowing, cutting communications. With EU funding support, the two new bridge structures are now wider at 7m with 1.5m either side walk-ways and have much higher clearance to cope with the floods.

They have been reconstructed on completely new structures and alignments with better traffic carrying

UGANDA NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY

capacity, enhanced safety and much bigger hydraulic capacity.

Aswa Bridge was completed in March 2012 and Awoja Bridge in September 2013, with the EU contributing 51.3% and Uganda government 48.7%.

Aswa Bridge cost about 60% of the investment in Awoja Bridge on account of the differences in the foundations’ requirements that translated into substantial costs variation margins.

European Development Fund support

Awoja Bridge lies on the corridor through Soroti preferred by truckers along the Kenya, Northern Uganda, Sudan/Congo route. Its construction has relieved the Jinja-Kampala corridor of congestion; it saves time by nearly a day’s trucking, well over 200km.

Aswa Bridge, on the other hand is the main link between Gulu and Kitgum, the key towns in Acholi sub-region, hence the critical need for it to be open.

Aswa Bridge link Gulu and Kitgum town

Mota-Engil enters Uganda at Kampala Northern By-pass “It is possible in the context of a clean tender procedure like the one for Kampala Northern By-Pass, to attract both investors and reliable contractors, such as Mota-Engil, an experienced company in Africa, but new to Uganda. They will do a good job here” European Union Head of Delegation to Uganda, H.E. Kristian Schmidt speaking at the launch of the second phase of Kampala Northern By-pass construction.

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ollowing 68 years’ presence on the African continent starting in Angola, Mota-Engil, a subsidiary of a Portuguese parent company, has expanded into 10 other markets; Malawi, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Ghana, São Tomé and Príncipe,

Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda and most recently Uganda.

With its Headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, it provides integrated engineering and construction

Road works along the 21km Kampala Northern Bypass.

It last year entered Ghana, with a contract to protect a 200km stretch of coastline in the capital, Accra.

The most recent geographical move for Mota-Engil was into Uganda on the completion of Kampala Northern By-pass -21km and now in Rwanda where is expanding Kigali International Airport.

Mota-Engil engineers at the Kampala Northern bypasss

services and a wide range of other utilities across Sub-Saharan Africa, where it employs some 14,600 people, and had reported revenue of €1billion in 2013.

Global Mota-Engil Group is rooted in Portugal and Angola dating back to 1946, when founder Manuel António da Mota opened twin branches of a construction company Mota and Companhia in both countries.

In 2000, Mota acquired Engil SGPS, creating MotaEngil. The merger then implemented a significant programme of investment in equipment, premises and talented young staff, and has become a truly global

The By-pass project was conceived to partly relieve the City of severe traffic congestion and also serve as a wider programme to reduce the transportation constraints along the Northern Corridor Route for both national and regional road traffic.

Mota-Engil camp site at Namanve in Kampala

Group, operating in Europe, America and Africa, and comprising 214 companies.

In Zambia, it was recently contracted to refurbish the important Great East Road connecting the country to Malawi, a project that will create 1,000 local jobs.

It comprises a dual carriageway from Busega roundabout to Nambole where it connects to Namboole junction with Kampala-Jinja Highway. The ongoing construction works are on a 17.5km stretch initially constructed as single carriageway. Like the current phase, the European Union supported the financing of the first phase that was completed in 2009.

The ongoing works will complete the dual carriageway comprising of the construction of bridges, to improve the capacity of the 17.5km section by upgrading it to a dual two lane carriageway standard.

It will also involve the construction of four grade sepa-

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rated junctions at Ntinda Road, Hoima Road, Gayaza Road and at Kyebando and effect improvements to the existing grade separated junction at Bombo Road.

Three new pedestrian bridges and a number of bus

Contract details

stands will be constructed.

Road safety equipment including vehicle restraint barriers will be installed; horizontal and vertical mark-

ings, a segregated footway throughout the alignment, service lanes, pedestrian fencing and full length lighting will be installed.

Project Name

Capacity improvement of the Kampala Northern Bypass (21km)

Employer

National Authorising Officer for European Development

Implementing Agency

Uganda National Roads Authority

Funding Agency

European Union – €37 million (54.9%) - Grant Government of Uganda – €15.4 million (22.3%) European Investment Bank – €15 million (22.8%) - Loan

Civil Works Contractor

Mota-Engil

Contract Amount

€ 67,394,566.56

Contract Signature Date (Civil Works)

April 11, 2014

Commencement Date

July 14, 2014

Project duration

36 Months

Completion Date

July 14, 2017

Construction Supervision Services

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Supervision Consultant/Engineer

COWI A/s (Denmark) in consortium with COWI Uganda Ltd

Contract Amount

€ 3,431,192.98

Addenda

No.1 : Replacement of Resident Engineer

Contract Implementation period

49 months (inclusive of 12 months for the defects liability period)

Commencement date

June 10, 2014

Completion Date

July 10, 2018

Closing Karamoja’s development gap When the 10th EDF wound up in March 2015, the twin Karamoja and Northern Uganda socio-economic rejuvenation programmes, KALIP and ALREP had provided essential services and infrastructure; community roads, markets, water, agro business and trade, market information, linkages to banking and peace and security in support of smallholder farming.

The two programmes focus has been the enhancement of livestock and crop production, productivity and income diversification, leading to medium and longer-term agricultural development. The programme commenced July 2010 with a 6 months inception period, by the end of which, detailed commitment and implementation schedules, and a monitoring and reporting framework were in place.

European Union-supported Karamoja Livelihoods Programme (KALIP) was conceived in 2008, following-up on the European Union funded Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Programme (2007-2010) and the Karamoja Programme (2003-2006).

It was a Uganda Government €15million 10th EDF-funded programme to rebuild lives and enhance the resilience of conflict affected people in greater Northern Uganda. KALIP was to address Karamoja Region’s development needs and close its

development gap, to bring the region at par with the rest of the country. Karamoja, Uganda’s driest region with a population of about one million people is renowned for a traditional nomadic lifestyle and a strong attachment to livestock keeping.

Following the advent of peace in 2006, and a successful disarmament programme, the destructive cattle raids all but ceased, enabling Karamoja to steady its path to development. Karamoja had suffered 20 tumultuous years characterised by major socioeconomic disruptions and political upheavals that displaced much of its population.

Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) and Karamoja Integrated Development Programme (KIDP) both under the Office of the Prime Minister are the avenues that have set Karamoja’s development path.

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Its implementation started in January 2011, with the completion of Standard Contribution Agreements with FAO, establishing 960 farmer field schools in the ALREP operational area, and 440 agro-pastoral field schools under KALIP. This approach was replicated under ALREP in Northern Uganda. Generally considered a success, PRDP Phase 2 ended in 2015.

Karamoja Integrated Disarmament Development Programme has largely succeeded in removing arms from the Karamajong, and metamorphosed into Karamoja Integrated Development Programme (KIDP).

EU supported PRDP, KIDP, KALIP and ALREP, covering 22 districts and 130 selected sub counties in Acholi, Lango, Teso and Karamoja.

KALIP, like ALREP delivered by fostering the farmers’ productive capacity, through the strengthening of agricultural services, the provision of linkages through advice, supplies, processing and access to rural finance; the central investments to livelihood transformation.

KALIP was founded on nearly 1500 Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and Agro-Pastoral Field Schools (APFS) set up and strengthened across the Acholi, Lango, and Teso regions, which a feature of ALREP too.

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Farmers in these schools underwent intensive on-farm agricultural training, to be equipped with the much

needed practical skills in agriculture and livestock husbandry. Selected field schools were also provided with improved seeds, ox-ploughs and oxen.

The year 2011 was devoted to designing, tendering and award of grants, supplies, works and service contracts, building on the roll-out of the farmer field school programme (ALREP) and the agro pastoral field school programme (KALIP) that started in April and June 2011 (ALREP) respectively.

The years 2012, 2013 and 2014 were devoted to programme implementation, contract management, monitoring and reporting. The programmes’ activities closed on November 30, 2014; on March 8, 2015 the implementation period formally expired.

The vital infrastructure the programmes delivered includes offices, market stalls, cattle crushes, community access roads, valley tanks, boreholes and others.

In 2012 the programmes signed grant contracts with 9 implementing partners to construct productive infrastructure through labour intensive works, and inject cash in rural communities for households to further build their private productive asset base.

In addition service contracts were signed to strengthen

Kaigensi Valley tank during construction

agricultural input dealers, marketing information services, general agricultural information services, strengthening of processing capacity, and linkage banking between (Village Savings and Loans Association) VSLAs and formal financial institutions were realised.

All the implementing partners received training in grant management, monitoring and evaluation. By the end of March 2015 all reports were completed and submitted, and the finances fully accounted for.

ALREP has delivered too

Northern Uganda Agricultural Livelihoods Recovery Programme (ALREP) was a European Union funded initiative, like KALIP to enhance

the rural populations’ livelihoods opportunities in post conflict areas.

ery and Development Plan (PRDP), outlined a US$600million overall returnee and recovery process.

It was conceived to mitigate the effects the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)’s 20 years insurgency in northern Uganda following a peace deal with Uganda Government in 2008.

The EU supported the PRDP implementation with €40million beginning in 2007. The initial €20million was channelled through the 2007-2010 post conflict Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Programme, to improve production by increasing the farmers productive assets, access to agricultural knowledge and service delivery.

For the duration of the insurgency, close to 1.8 million people were confined to Internally Displaced Persons’ camps.

The Government’s subsequent Peace, Recov-

It also promoted agro-processing and value addition, built the farmers and Local Governments capacities and strengthened Local Government Production Departments by improving markets accesses.

A subsequent €20million Northern Uganda Agricultural Livelihoods Recovery Programme (ALREP) funding started in July 2010, to restore the region’s agricultural production and productivity.

Uganda and Southern Sudan’s potential bread basket, Northern Uganda accounts for 53% of Uganda’s arable land, with land holdings at 3.6 ha/household, three times Uganda’s average.

The Minister For Karamoja Affairs, Hon Janet Museveni and the EU Head of Corporation Theo Hoorntje inspect Kaigenoi Valley Tank

The region generally receives reliable rainfall and has reasonably fertile soils that are relatively easy

to work and suitable for mechanized agriculture.

Thus, the opportunities to restore production, food security, and agricultural income generation to enable agricultural sector recovery and improve livelihoods are indeed very promising.

ALREP was to enable war affected Northern Uganda population to engage in productive and profitable agricultural and agri-business activities, ensuring food security and household income increase.

By the end of the programme:

Agricultural production and productivity have increased Productive farming supporting infrastructure is in place Input and output markets and processing capacities are efficient and transparent Agricultural finance availability to producers, traders and processors has increased Relevant Local Governments departments at the districts and sub-counties capacity has been built for effective planning, service delivery, supervision and monitoring.

The focus is to enhance livestock and crop production, productivity and income diversification, the precursors to medium and longer-term agricultural development.

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ASARECA celebrates 20 years of partnership with the EU Over the last 20 years, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) has spearheaded regional collective action to develop and disseminate innovations to address common challenges to agriculture. Established in 1994, ASARECA works in 11 countries: Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan and Tanzania. ASARECA Headquarters are in Entebbe, Uganda.

O

ver the last five years alone, ASARECA invested US$69 million to address challenges such as climate change, transboundary pests and diseases, declining soil fertility, diminishing natural resources, restrictive agricultural policies, access to regional markets and low agricultural productivity, among others.

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As a result of this investment, over 200 different agricultural innovations and management practices were either generated or improved to suit farmers’ demands. In addition, over 220 innovations and management practices were availed for use by targeted stakeholders. As a result, a total of over 2.5 million individuals directly benefited from an assortment of ASARECA support initiatives. The European Union

centrosema pubescens, leading to increased fodder availability by 50% and crude protein content by 20% compared to the pure stand of Napier. The number of days a cow is able to feed on the new fodder mix per given land area also increased by about 30%.

Water for farms and kitchen

A farmer in Masaka district heads to feed his livestock using home grown high quality Nappier grass

provided up to 80% of financial support to these investments from which Uganda benefited a lot. Some of the benefits specifically in Uganda are highlighted below: This woman in Kumi district in Uganda was able to realise a 50% milk yield increase from her cow because she feeds it on a mixture of Nappier grass and forage legumes

Mixed livestock and crop innovations

Working with the National Agricultural Organisation (NARO), ASARECA introduced a mix of innovations, which draw complementary benefits from crops and livestock resources. Farmers in Masaka and Kumi districts intercropped Napier grass with forage legume

To ensure all-year-round water availability for livestock, crops and domestic use, a project by ASARECA and her partners introduced roof catchment underground water harvesting tanks on 24 farms with a capacity of 35,000 litres each. As a result, water availability increased by 46%, the area under forage production increased by 134% and fodder quantity increased by 76%. Consequently, milk yields increased by 80%, leading to a 52.4% increase in household income.

Daily use of milk and milk products has contributed to improvement in the nutritional and health status of beneficiaries.

Through the project, farmers now also generate income from selling hay made from Bracharia mulato.

A 20kg bale of hay costs US$5. As a result of this venture, a small-scale farmer in Mityana district, who obtained planting material from the project went into commercial production, and is currently earning about US$ 1,000 per month.

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As part of an initiative to enhance diversification of income sources, the project promotes all-year-round vegetable growing through the use of harvested rainwater and application of organic manure. Through this venture, cabbage farmers in Masaka district harvested an average of 15.4t/ha after using poultry wastes as manure. This represents 157% higher productivity compared to non-manured plots (6.0t/ ha). The same farmers realised fodder and grain yield increases of 26% and 6% respectively after intercropping forage legume lablab purpureus with maize.

high yielding highland maize varieties, which are currently producing grain yields of about 9 t/ha. This is an exponential growth compared to 2.3 t/ha from the lowland varieties that are predominantly grown in Uganda. Some of the new varieties, including four hybrids, have a potential yield of 12 t/ha, which is at par with global standards. These varieties have been included in the national performance trials, pending official release. When released, they will help farmers in Uganda and the Eastern and Central Africa region to address food insecurity.

High yielding maize

Clean planting materials

Besides latest efforts to combat the deadly Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) virus, ASARECA, working with research teams in Uganda, earlier introduced

In an effort to reduce disease infestations, ASARECA and partners in Uganda and the region embarked on an initiative to apply tissue culture

Besides current efforts to fight the deadly Maize Lethal Necrosis virus, ASARECA has been involved in introducing high yielding highland maize varieties to farmers to increase the benefit from farming

interventions to mass produce disease free planting materials of cassava, sweet potatoes and banana.

Over 200 farmers were served through this initiative. The tissue culture laboratories supported through this project now use more innovative and

cost effective methodologies, consequently lowering the cost of production of tissue culture plantlets by 40% and contributing to 60% higher yields.

In a bid to control the spread of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) disease, ASARECA and partners in the region introduced a wide range of disease surveillance and eradication approaches which included propagation of clean planting materials. Consequently, the proportion of farmers who managed to control BXW increased from less than 5% to over 60%, and banana production recovered from total loss to over 60% in the most affected districts of Bushenyi, Ntungamo and Mbarara. As of December 2013, the farmers were able to earn about US$300 per month, up from only US$30 during infestation.

Farmers who eventually organized themselves into groups now earn US$ 600 monthly.

Conducive policy environment

Thousands of disease-free, high yielding banana planting materials have been made available to farmers

ASARECA made efforts to create a conducive environment for agricultural development by introducing

policies, regulations and incentives for farmers in complex landscapes. For example, ASARECA supported Bukwo district to make laws on land use, culminating into the Bukwo District Land Care Bill. The bill now provides a suitable environment for sustainable land use management in the district. It provides incentives, penalties and punishments that have been agreed to by the communities. The district, with a population of 67,500 people faced an acute shortage of productive land following years of inappropriate land use activities prior to this intervention. Through gravity flow, the communities now depend on water from the slopes of Mt. Elgon, and the bill ensures that any further degradation of the environment or failure to enhance the eco-system is checked.

Other interventions by ASARECA in Uganda include promotion of orange sweet potato, quality protein maize, control of the cassava brown streak disease and management of striga, among others. All these interventions, which have benefited from EU support, have contributed to generation of economic returns to the targeted communities and reduction of rural poverty.

We wish the European Union fruitful Europe Day Celebrations and pray for continued development partnership in the years to come.

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EU improves sanitation infrastructure in poor peri-Urban and urban communities in Gulu, Kitgum, Pader and Kampala Districts

Pupils of Centenary Primary School in Kitgum could not hide their joy after receiving a new pour flUShstoilet

Amref Health Africa, an international African organization headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya is committed to improving the health of people in Africa by partnering with and empowering communities, and strengthening health systems. Operating in Uganda since 1987, Amref Health Africa is implementing a 5-Year Project dubbed “Basic Sanitation for Poor Peri-Urban and Urban Communities of Uganda”. The intervention is being implemented in peri-urban and Urban areas of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader and Kampala districts that -are faced with challenges of water and poor sanitation. The project is intended to contribute to the achievement of the sanitation MDG 4, 5, 6 and 7 through reducing the prevalence of water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases.

Implementation approach

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A

mref Health Africa is supporting 52 schools, 225 community health workers, 40 women’s groups and 750 local leaders to implement the project.

The project integrates service delivery, capacity building and advocacy, implemented through 4 main components highlighted below:

Provision of sanitation infrastructure to

increase accessibility in schools, markets and public places. The infrastructure provided includes drainable VIP Latrines, Waterborne/ pour flUShstoilets, a sludge drying bed, ferrocement rainwater harvesting tanks, hand wash-

ing facilities, waste storage skips, lining of the drainage channel and establishment of waste management sites.

A pupil of St. Peters Primary School beaming with excitement upon acquiring proper hand- washing skills

Pupils of St. Peters primary school in Gulu District welcoming the DG for Amref Health Africa global at the School

Strengthening community capacity to promote improved sanitation and hygiene practices. This is done through strengthening existing community healthcare systems (school health clubs, existing women’s groups, VHTs and local leaders) to work together and improve hygiene practices and behaviours in the collection, transportation, disposal and reuse of sanitation waste in project areas.

Establishing mechanisms for coordination of the sanitation chain by development and supporting platforms for planning, budgeting and monitoring sanitation activities of public and private sector stakeholders.

Supporting initiatives to disseminate policy and best practices among peri-urban and urban poor communities. These include supporting beneficiaries to participate in internationally recognized WASH related days, organizing learning exchange visits to model towns, promoting joint support supervisions and quarterly review meetings, influencing policy, practice and resource allocation to the Water Sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector.

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In schools, core components promoted include Personal Hygiene and Sanitation (PHASE), Menstrual Hygiene Management, and safe water chain management. We have worked with the Ministry of Education and Sports in 2014 to provide access to safe drinking water for more than 100,000 school children

Key achievements

A total of 336 stance of water borne/VIP toilet units have been constructed and are in use. These have been constructed in public places such as markets, public institutions like schools and health facilities. This has greatly contributed to increased sanitation coverage in respective targeted municipalities/town councils. For instance, Gulu sanitation coverage has increased from 62% in the past two years from 2011 to 71% to date.

The Principal Municipal Health Officer mentioned Amref ’s contribution being key towards this increment.

A total of 52 rain water harvesting systems of 20,000 litres ferro cement tank each have been installed in schools as back up water storage facilities and 120 hand-washing facilities in schools and public places. As a result over 20,000 pupils have improved access to water for drinking, hand washing and cleaning.

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SANITATION IMPROVEMENT FOR URBAN AND PERI-URBAN COMMUNITIES IN UGANDA ACHIEVEMENTS 2013-2014 Component

Type of Intervention

Sanitation Infrastructure

VIP Latrine Blocks Water Borne Toilet Blocks Rainwater Harvesting Tanks Hand Washing Facilities Waste Skips Drainage Channel (m) School Health Clubs Established

School Support

Women’s Groups

Coordination Capacity

PHASE Kits Provided Message Talking Boards Sets of IEC Posters Number of women’s groups trained Groups with waste related business plans Groups supported with basic equipment Number of WASH coordination structures established at Division/ Municipal/ Town Council Level Number of Quarterly WASH coordination meetings held Number of learning journeys carried out

The PHASE package has been scaled-up in 52 schools supported by the project. Each package consists of a reference manual, Flash Cards to be used by teachers to promote PHASE in

Total

Central Northern [Kawempe Uganda Division] (Gulu, Pader and Kitgum) 12 03 08 34 20 32 44 64 -07 175 -22 32

15 42 52 108 07 175 52

20 100 22 19 10 10 01

32 --00 00 00 03

52 100 22 00 10 10 04

08

12

20

01

02

03

classrooms and a Flip Chart to empower School Health Clubs to disseminate PHASE messages through drama and poems. In addition, each school was provided with guidelines for establish-

ing a school health committee, school health club and templates for developing school sanitation plans. Reporting mechanisms to the school management committee and higher authorities were also pointed out.

A total of 52 school health clubs were established and supported to promote PHASE through poems, songs, and creative-dance and drama competitions. The school health clubs were also supported to develop school sanitation plans with budgets to guide implementation of activities.

In each target school, the plans were reviewed and approved by the school health committees.

The empowered school health clubs have been disseminating messages through weekly health parades, training children to wash hands after latrine use and before eating food and participating neighborhood clean-up campaigns. A number of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials including posters, fliers, stickers and message talking boards were printed and distributed to the target schools to reinforce messages of the school health clubs.

Amref Health Africa has been keen to scaleup improved menstrual hygiene management services in the target schools. This has been done through provision of space for a girl’s WASH room during construction of toilets, training

school women and senior male teachers, provision of basic essentials (basins, jerrycans, clothes line, waste bin, cotton wool and paracetamols).

Other activities have included promotion of dialogue with parents of adolescent girls and supporting girls to advocate for their needs during the national menstrual hygiene day.

A total of 7 skips were procured and distributed in Gulu district for management of waste. The skips are loaded using the existing transport system to transfer waste to a gazetted dumping site. In Kawempe Division, development of a Community-based Waste Management Strategy to streamline management of waste at community level has also been initiated and a total of 2 demonstration sites have already been identified to pilot implementation of the strategy. A total of 19 women’s groups were identified and trained in improved waste man-

agement practices and supported to develop a business plan for at least one Income Generating Activities (IGA) to be supported through a revolving seed fund.

In Kawempe Division, the project is helping to line 849m of Katanga drainage channel. To date, a total of 175m of the Channel in Makerere I parish has been lined. Efforts are underway to line 674m of the upper channel in Wandegeya parish.

Key activities will include lining the main channel, construction of 03 footbridges, a box culvert and a channel tributary. For each channel section, a management committee has been established to

Toilet blocks constructed in 57 schools with support of the EU.

zones and, Development partners. Key activities include sharing annual work plans, quarterly reports, organizing support supervision visits and carrying out learning journeys.

Challenges encountered and mitigation measures

Challenges have been met in the area of potentially conflicting approaches while implementing similar activities, though discussing and aligning these with national standards and approaches that have proven to be effective. Potential risks that may have jeopardized the realization of some activities are listed below:

Amref Health Africa has held consultative meetRain water harvesting tanks constructed in 52 Primary School with support of the EU

ensure to regular maintenance, promote improved waste management practices and enact byelaws to regulate its management.

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The project facilitated the establishment of a WASH Coordination Committee to oversee implementation of activities by NGO partners. The committee consists of KCCA technical staff, Parish Councilors, Representatives of LCI Chairmen from 2 under-served

ings with Kitgum Town council authorities on the need and urgency to finalize acquisition of the land (title and ownership) construction of the sludge drying bed. Consultations have also been done with the Ministry of Water and Environment, which availed technical support to redesign the sludge bed to fit the capacity needs of Kitgum Town.

In Kawempe division limited land availability affected the construction of separate Garbage skips latrine blocks of 5 latrine provided by the stances each as per project EU have improved on solid waste design. However, the management in Gulu KCCA design of 8 stances Municipality

per latrine blocks with a shared wall for boys and girls has been adopted for both schools and communities. Because of limited land, it took longer than was expected to identify sites for construction of the sanitation facilities in schools and communities.

In the past, Amref Health Africa did not have an MoU with Kampala City Council Authorities that have to provide approval of construction sites, certification of works and other technical support. However, the MoU has been drafted and is being reviewed by KCCA authorities. It is hoped that the MoU will help in streamlining arrangements to implement remaining activities.

UNHCR and the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) helping to keep South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda safe and healthy When South Sudan became the world’s newest country in July 2011, there was renewed hope that peace would finally come to the people inhabiting this war-ravaged part of East Africa. But after a brief spell of relative calm, the fledgling state was once again plunged into war in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former VicePresident, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup d’etat. Since then, the conflict has seen animosities drawn along tribal and ethnic lines resurface, uprooting 1.5 million people inside South Sudan, and forcing more than half a million to seek shelter in neighbouring countries.

Ugandan humanitarian workers provide cooked food in a Transit Centre to newly arrived refugees

In Uganda, home to nearly 150,000 South Sudanese refugees, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Office of the Prime Minister, in partnership with other organisations, provide new arrivals with life-saving assistance including clean water, food, education and medical services. Adjumani District in northern Uganda has provided a new home to more South Sudanese than any other region in the country.

At the health centre in the village of Mungula I, the atmosphere is far removed from the tensions north of the border. Members of the Dinka, Madi and other South Sudanese tribes patiently sit side by side with local Ugandans as they wait to see a doctor.

“The health centre is a beautiful fora for the different tribes of the refugees and host community,” said

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A six-month old child is checked for malnutrition.

Adau, 65 years, and his family of 9 (8 children and one grandchild) come from Bor. All they managed to bring with them when they fled was their clothes. “If the UN sees the situation is better we will go back, if it is worse we will stay here.” This is the second time she has been forced to flee. In 1991 she ran to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where she stayed for 4 years.

Geoffrey Olwa, a health worker with Medical Teams International, a health partner of UNHCR. “Whether you are a refugee or a local, the treatment and the diseases are the same. It helps the communities to interact and fosters peaceful coexistence.”

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Things were not always this way. Until recently, the health centre had just two clinicians, and they soon found themselves overwhelmed after the initial influx of South Sudanese refugees into the area.

Thanks to funding from the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), UNHCR has boosted the health centre with much-needed additional staff: two more clinical officers, a medical officer, an anesthetist, two surgical theatre assistants, a midwife, a nurse, a psycho-social counsellor, and a lab assistant.

ECHO funding has provided cylinders for anesthetic, sterilizer gas and oxygen; surgical equipment and theatre drums; as well as a host of life-sustaining and life-saving drugs. As a direct result, the surgical theatre that had stood dormant since being built in 2000 as

it lacked sufficient equipment and staff, is now fully operational. By all measures, quality of care, time spent with patients, the number of patients seen per day, the health centre’s performance has improved markedly. The health centre, used by South Sudanese and Ugandans alike, is a prime example of the benefits the hosting of refugees can bring to local communities.

Being able to rely on quality-health care is especially important as the rainy season approaches and the

environment becomes a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes. By far the most commonly presented conditions in the health centre (more than eighty per cent) are patients who have either contracted malaria or are suffering from respiratory tract infections.

The use of mosquito nets remains far from ubiquitous while coughs and pneumonial illnesses are easily spread amongst those living in close quarters and sleeping on cold and dusty mud floors. Thanks to the generosity of the European citizens, antimalarials and antibiotics are available to both the refugees and host community, ensuring the best chance of a swift recovery.

ECHO funding is also empowering refugees to create a safe and peaceful community. It has helped to fund

and train a local community structure called the Gender Task Force, made up of five female and three male refugees. Primarily tasked with preventing and educating refugees on sexual and gender based violence, they recently conducted awareness campaigns, including the distribution of T-shirts with the slogan “Real men protect their women. Real men protect their children.”

The team travels tirelessly around Mungula helping to resolve domestic disputes, settle arguments amongst neighbours, provide group counselling sessions to heavy drinkers and help children to understand the importance of education and attending school. The potentially deadly snakes that thrive in Adjumani’s grassland make carrying out these roles all the more arduous but thanks to European assistance, they are provided with protection in the form of rubber boots and torches.

“Because of structures like the Gender Task Force, things are slowly becoming more like normal,” says Beatrice, one of the members of the Gender Task Force.

“There used to be a lot of fighting and children not going to school but now the disputes have reduced and child attendance is improving so you can see the Gender Task Force is having a really important effect.”

UNHCR Representation in Uganda, Plot 11/13 Mackenzie Close, Kololo, Kampala PO Box 3813, Kampala - Uganda Tel: +256 (0) 31 223 1200 Email: ugaka@unhcr.org Public health services enhanced through infrastructure and referral services improvement, medicine supplies, and staffing support

Action for development (Acfode)

EU supports Promoting and Protecting Women’s rights in Northern Uganda and West Nile The effects of the over 20 years armed conflict by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda are still evident in the eyes of the women in the region. Domestic violence, early and forced marriages, negative traditional beliefs and lack of control over their sexuality, widow inheritance and high levels of domestic violence, lack of access to opportunities like land, inability to question the status quo and demand for fair treatment, the burden of caring for children after their Peter Brown, British Council Country Director husbands died in war, little say over decisions that affect their lives both at home and in the Public sphere, limited access to community and social management opportunities are some of the major issues affecting women in the region.

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Such a sad situation attracted the British Council in partnership with Action for Development (ACFODE) with funding from the European Union to implement a two

years project “Action for strengthening Institutions and Communities in Promoting Women’ Rights,”

Moving forward: Women pave way on how to improve their income.

In line with the European Union’s overarching goal of strengthening the democratic governance of participating nations, the project aims at strengthening the participation of women in the social, economic and political facets to ensure a society where women and men are valued equally and have equal access to opportunities, resources and government development programmes.

To achieve this goal, the project is operating in 4 districts of Nebbi, Apac, Oyam & Pader.

The beneficiaries include among others elected women councillors from sub-county to district level; leaders of Women Groups, social actors like clan, cultural, religious, technical and political leaders in the 4 beneficiary districts.

What has the Project achieved?

ing for their rights, monitoring the implementation of CEDAW Trainings on the rights of at different administrative levels, women have been conducted track and report incidences of for duty bearers, social actors discrimination against women and and civil society organisations also ensure that local leaders respond using the Convention on Eliminapositively to gender based discrimination of all forms of Discrimination Regina Bafaki, ACFODE Executive Director tion.

Against Women- ( CEDAW) as a tool to promote and protect women’s rights.

Leadership and management trainings for duty Indeed, 291 different stakeholders have been bearers on the fulfilment of their roles and duties to trained and 23 CEDAW committees formed the rights holders including enhancement of their across the four districts of focus. The CEDAW engagement with gender and human rights issues Committees are inplace to popularise CEDAW have been undertaken. 136 women participated; at all levels, continuous sensitisation of commu270 people have been engaged in Gender and hunities on gender based discrimination in order to man rights accountability forums aimed at creating strengthen community participation in demand-

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Nebbi Women Councillors pose for a group photograph upon completion of the CEDAW training.

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opportunities for dialogue, debate and discussion on issues related to women leadership and their participation in governance, economic opportunities and democratisation. Mentorship sessions for women councillors and Women Groups’ leaders are ongoing to enhance effective representation.

Over 180 women leaders have been trained in social enterprise development aimed at increasing their access to livelihood opportunities amongst other activities.

Awareness of women’s rights has been created

amongst beneficiary communities and opportunities are being enhanced for women to economically, socially and politically advance their lives. This will also help the women to engage their political and technical leaders more, and to hold them accountable

Testimonies from the Beneficiaries ”When we learnt that the committee of Finance and Administration of Apac District Local Government was going to Wansolo landing site for tax mobilisation, verification and sensitisation, the CEDAW committee moHon. Dorcus Otim bilized the community members Chairperson to demand for a functional health CEDAW facility from the district leaderCommittee Apac ship before the District leaders could address the people about tax payments since residents and especially women were dying from preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhea and typhoid yet the only HCII there had been closed. Due to the pressure from the community, Wansolo HCII was immediately reopened, drugs procured and staff posted. The district leadership was very surprised at how the community had been empowered to demand for services from their leaders.”

According to the officer in charge of Inomo police post, Apac District Mr. Otim Michael, the project intervention has led to an unprecedented

increase in civic awareness and action among the Inomo community seen from the number of cases reported to the police post. For example 43 cases of child abuse were reported by local council leaders and community members in the month of October 2014 compared to 12 reported in the month of September 2014. “The most common forms of abuse include; defilement, rape, early and force full marriage. The majority of these cases have been referred to Apac Central Police Station for legal action” Otim Michael, officer in charge of Inomo police post, Apac District.

In Oyam District, the CEDAW committees have embarked on a fight against negative social cultural practices that infringe on the rights of women and the girl child especially their rights to education. One of such initiatives is the campaign to end early marriage of the girl child whilst promoting the importance of girl child education. Honourable Florence Odongo a local woman leader and CEDAW committee member revealed how she was able to intervene when a Primary School girl was scheduled for a forced early marriage. “It was through the trainings that I attended by ACFODE and the British Council that

I was able to handle issues of women’s rights within my community. In November of 2014, I visited Awelobutoryo Primary School in Oyam Town Council and carried out a sensitization campaign against early marriage. Two weeks after the sensitisation and awareness meeting, a female student from that school came to my place and informed me of her parent’s intention to marry her off. She was desperate for help as she saw her dreams and aspirations of completing her education and becoming a health practitioner one day crumbling. After long hours of discussion, her parents understood and apologised for their earlier plans vowing to support their daughter’s education. When the Primary Leaving Examination results for the year 2014 were released, she had excelled and is

A woman contributes towards the social enterprise discussion.

I have always been bitter about the violation of women’s right in Pader District and more especially Pader town council where indecencies of women being killed “butchered” by their spouses are rampant and cases of defilement and rape high” Through the promoting of women’s rights project by the British Council and ACFODE, I have greatly appreciated my role in promoting as well as protecting women’s rights as a local leader but also a CEDAW committee member.

And this effort made me to believe that “if women could join hands together then we shall be able to realize our full rights as human beings”.

Women in Pader District demand for accountability from the Police.

now in secondary school. Her hope for bright future has been restored.”

In Pader district, women and girl child rights violation caused women to rise up and demand accountability from the police. “I am Mrs. Hellen Okot, the deputy mayor of Pader town council.

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“The way I used to think, plan and judge things has now changed, according to the training I have un-dergone. The system has to change from (old to new). Most of the men still think that when they marry a woman, they think that she becomes property of a man and that their rights are not equal to theirs. …. So when I go back from this training I will have to mobilise the communities and also sensitize them respecting the rights of women.” Omara Remos Ray, Clan Leader of Oyima.

After this training, I will ensure recruit-

ment of females among church leaders and teachers i.e. as catechists, I will also involve females among committees in every department. Organising workshops for various church committees on promotion of women and girls rights will be put in place. I will advise the church catechists to put the issue of gender in their programme, and in each of my sermons, I will include the issue of women’s rights daily to enable awareness to the public. I will strongly advise my church to advocate for girl child education and in all my pastoral work I will teach about stereotypes.

Obala Geoffrey, Parish Priest C.O.U Apac.

In the forum of our clan leaders, I will educate them on various forms of discriminations at all levels, so that they can work on to eliminating them in order

Women conduct a community mapping exercise in Nebbi.

Social Actors in Apac commit to promoting women’s rights.

Project team: British Council

Peter Brown: Country Director Carol Nyaika: Head projects and partnerships Maxwell Chrysolite Kamanyire: Project Manager Emily Ikiriza: Project officer

ACFODE

Regina Bafaki: Executive Director Yossa Daisy: Project officer Joyce Nabaloga: Finance Manager

to realise development in there areas of jurisdiction.

I will endeavour that in all clan meetings there is sensitisation of all members on gender issues, discriminations against women and what they can do to eliminate them. And also at home I will consistently talk to the family members so as to be conscious about gender issues. Obote Tommy, Clan Leader.

The Convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) concluding observations on Uganda’s report 2002 points out that women especially in the rural areas are not aware of their rights under the convention and thus lack the capacity to claim them. Through

this project, the British Council and ACFODE are optimistic that women’s awareness of and demand for their human rights will be enhanced, enabling them to actively engage in decision making at all levels ultimately facilitating their increased access to livelihood opportunities.

The British Council and ACFODE are grateful for the EU support that has made all the above achievements possible.

CEDAW Committees drawing up action plans for promoting women’s rights in their communities.

Funded by:

Implemented by:

Farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda Call for Governments’ Policy Action on Reducing Post-Harvest Losses In the East African region, smallholder farmers constitute over 70% of the population. However, their voice has mostly been silent, or not adequately taken into consideration in policy formulation and influencing processes with regard to agricultural issues. Many policies were formulated top-down without listening to the voice of the smallholder farmers, despite the fact that they are most affected by those policies. Under the EU-funded Farmer’s Voice programme “improving Food Security Governance in East Africa”, farmers in the East African region have called for urgent government policy action on preventing the devastating effect of post-harvest losses on food security, household incomes and the national economy.

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Duration: 2013-2014 Place: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

T

oo often there is a strong focus on raising agricultural productivity, whilst there is an immense waste due to various causes of post-harvest losses (PHL). Therefore, the smallholder farmers, through their member –based farmer organisations, have claimed that efforts to achieve gains in

reducing PHL have a significant effect. For example, a reduction of 1% in PHL in maize in Masindi could lead to annual benefits of 617 tons of maize or UShs300 million a year. Such a loss could have fed up to 711.800 people per year.

The programme used an innovative participatory approach, called the “Farmer Advocacy Consultation Tool” (FACT), developed by Agriterra, which helps to guide farmer organisations in generating food security–related policy issues and policy engagement. The approach is based on four pillars: ■■ Consultations with farmer members; ■■ Participatory research; ■■ Preparation of proposals; ■■ Presentation of proposals.

The 2013-2015 Farmers’ Voice Programme was a strategic partnership project operating at regional, national and sub-national involving 14 farmer organisations, representing a total of over 5 million smallholder farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The programme contributed to the empowerment of smallholders’ participation in food security related policy processes and it has strengthened the capacity of farmers’ organisations and their membership in participatory generation of policy proposals and policy engagement, specifically with regard to food security, comprising post-harvest losses and strategic food reserves.

In a first round, farmer members of the farmers’ organisations were consulted on their priority issues.

Subsequently, partners undertook a participatory research with farmers to further identify policy issues on post-harvest losses and strategic food reserves.

Afterwards, farmers’ organisations, assisted by experts, analysed and systematised the results of their participatory research and prepared policy proposals and engaged with relevant decision-makers and other stakeholders.

According to the participatory research findings, farmers experience over 40% post-harvest losses of their produce due to factors ranging from lack of proper storage, poor transport infrastructure and other facilities. For example, research revealed over 90% of the

households lack appropriate storage facilities especially at household level. Higher level storage facilities at sub national and national levels, such as silos and strategic food reserves, were also limited and/or inaccessible.

This imminent impact of Post-Harvest Losses and lack of Food Security Reserves has an influence on the livelihoods of farmers, which in return holds implications for the national economy. For example, each farmer in the Ugandan district of Mbarara loses at least UShs135,000 in three grain crops per season due to lack of proper equipment. Due to this important impact on smallholder farmers, it’s obvious that the farmers’ voice need to be heard in the policy formulation process and could help in delivering more adequate policies.

Thanks to the participatory FACT approach, the programme achieved 2 major results. Result one: farmers came up with a set of accountable, feasible and well-informed policy proposals on strategic food reserves and post-harvest losses. Result two: the FV programme created a new dynamic between farmers, farmers’ organisations and policy makers. The programme stimulated a transformation of mind-set and practices.

This is shown by various findings. Farmer’s voice supported farmers’ organisations to lobby their governments to ensure that they receive the attention and

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Title: Call for Action on Post-Harvest Losses and Storage Kenya

Uganda

Tanzania

Priority issues High average PHL due to various causes Pests and diseases, Spillage, Humidity Substandard storage facilities

Subsidization of the construction of grain silos and stores at the village, ward, subcounty and county-level Lack of food reserves/stores at household/community level Food Reserve System to assure stable prices and to act as a natural disaster response 90% of households lack proper storage leading to over 40% mechanism PHLs The government should facilitate a training and extension system on PHL from the national level until the village and household village level and supervise transfer of Lack of knowledge on PHL the skills to the entire societies.

Good storage facilities on household and community level and technological demonstrations A national capacity building: training on Post harvest handling and strategic food Lack of proper storage skills and facilities reserves Poor understanding of post- harvest handling Inadequate/insufficient extension officer Evenly distributed warehouse infrastructure and management on the village and Little or no knowledge on Strategic Food Reserves household level Insufficient warehouses nearby members Construction of food reserves

services they need and deserve. It encouraged farmers and farmers’ organisations to engage with policy makers and create new relationships. Due to the grassroots FACT approach, policy makers were more likely to recognize farmer organisations as relevant actors and increase consultation and networking with them on relevant policy issues at the different levels.

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Recommendations Formulation and adaptation of grain storage protocols

Through the programme evaluation, it became clear that engagement and involvement was not steered by the policy proposals themselves, but stimulated during the entire process. In Mbarara, one of the involved Ugandan districts, strong interactions between farm-

ers’ associations and policy makers were strengthened throughout the process.

The acknowledgement of the merits of the FACT approach as a suitable tool in generating evidencebased policies is noticeable by the institutionalisation of FACT by the participating farmer organisations.

For example, the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF) extended the use of FACT to budget and gender advocacy and FACT is now institutionalised in all its County Farmer Associations.

Uganda National Farmers Federation extended the use

of FACT on climate change adaptation, youth and land advocacy. The approach is now implemented in 14 districts from the initial 3 pilot districts. Uganda Cooperation Alliance extended the use of FACT to lobbying and advocacy on reducing taxation of farm inputs to ensure prices of inputs are more favourable to farmers.

Farmers’ Voice not only contributed to a more inclusive and participatory evidence-based policy process with regard to food security-related issues, but also added to the gradual evolution of bridging the gap between farmers and policy makers.

EMPOWERING ENTREPRENEURIAL PEOPLE Who we are

Trias is a leading Belgian nonprofit in international development. Trias exists because we believe that everyone has dreams of a better economic future, but not everyone has the same opportunities. We believe in the empowerment of family farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs to become strong entrepreneurs and in securing equal economic opportunities for women and youth. In 14 countries across 3 continents, we provide their member-based organisations tailored services that include training in business management, finance, gender equality, and leadership and advocacy skills to improve market access and create a level playing

field. Our programmes have shown their impact.

Trias in Uganda

Trias works in the West and North-West of Uganda. Partners include, small entrepreneurs such as The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organization (TUNADO), Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) and Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA). The programmes focus on the sustainable empowerment of small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs by improving their commercial capacity and giving them a stronger voice.

P. O. Box 5617 Kampala – Uganda Kiwafu Road, Kansanga Tel: +2564266371 E-mail triasuganda@triasngo.be / www.triasngo.be

Transforming lives of the poor and marginalised post conflict communities through improved access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services This year 2015, marks the fourth year for WaterAid and partners implementing the “Equitable and sustainable access to safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for poor communities in post-conflict areas of Uganda. This five year programme commenced in 2011 and is funded by the European Union- Water Facility to the tune of €2.744m.

T

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he programme goal is to contribute to the achievement of MDGs on water, sanitation and hygiene in Uganda. The project is targeting to reach 36,786 community members with improved access to safe water and 74,200 people with access to adequate sanitation facilities at house-

hold, institutions and hygiene education activities.

The programme is implemented in Amuria, Katakwi, Napak – districts greatly affected by decades of conflict perpetuated by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the inter-tribal at times inter clan

In collaboration with the European Union, WaterAid and partners have continued to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, because they underpins all aspects of human development and investing in them accelerates progress in health, education and economic productivity. Photo: WaterAid/ James Kiyimba

conflicts instigated by the Karimojong cattle rustlers.

During the time of insurgency and after, the districts of Masindi, Pallisa and Kibuku host many internally displaces people and many of them settled there permanently even after the end of the insurgency.

Programme partners

To achieve the desired goal, since programme inception, WaterAid had been working with local partner NGOs which include; Wera Development Agency (WEDA), Church of Uganda - Teso Diocese Development Organisation (COU-TEDDO), Health through Water and Sanitation Programme (HEWASA), Karamoja Agro-pastoral Development Programme (KADP) and their respective District Local Governments to ensure that resettling communi-

ties have access to WASH.

Achievement

The project has improved rural water supply and sanitation by constructing safe water facilities, institutional latrines and building community capacity to improve their sanitation conditions and hygiene practices through community led approaches. To date, the programme has enabled 123,749 people to have access to safe water and 240,511 to improved sanitation as well as taking on good hygiene practices.

These improvements have significantly contributed to reduction in water borne disease including hepatitis E and diarrhoea diseases in the target communities.

Veronica Lowakori from Kochito village, Lorengechora

WASH facilities constructed by the programme in four years against target Facilities

Cumulative Total Over 4 years

Project Target (5 years)

Ferro cement Tanks (10,000 Litres Capacity)

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40

New Deep Boreholes installed with Hand pumps

105

105

Rehabilitation of Deep Boreholes

20

21

Sand Dams

1

1

Rain water harvesting jars

65

71

Shallow (Hand dug) Wells

2

2

Spring Protection

2

2

Institutional Latrines

29

29

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Sub County, Napak District tells her story of change “I have seen many changes happen in Kochito village, but the most significant change is when majority of people in my village started constructing and using latrines. Me too I have constructed a latrine for my family. I have also built a bath shelter; I can now bathe any time of the day. Before I could only bathe at night under the cover of darkness. Termites are my biggest problem, they often eat the grass on my bath-shelter but whenever it is down I look for new grass to put it up again.

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When I get visitors, I am no longer ashamed of taking them to my bathe shelter or latrine.

The hygiene educators told me that, the hepatitis disease that affected our village some time back was due to people eating faeces. The health educator demonstrated to us how people who defecate in the bUShsand those who don’t wash hands with soap end up eating faeces. In my family we use ash because soap is very expensive.

Defecating in the bUShsis very bad because it leads to the spread of diseases,” Veronica Lowakori 65; Kochito village, Lorengechora Sub County, Napak District, Karamoja region North Eastern

Uganda tell the change in her community since the implementation of the WASH project funded by the European Union-Water Facility.

Sustainability of project achievements

To sustain the achievements of the programme, WaterAid has strengthened the capacity of community based structures including; village health teams, cluster heads, hygiene educators, water user committees and advocacy committees to effectively mobilise the user

communities to contribute to the operation and maintenance of the WASH facilities in place. In addition, WaterAid has continued to work with the district local governments to train hand pump mechanics; these support the user committees in repairing the water points in place. Other community structures like the advocacy committees, cluster head, hygiene promoters and the village health teams have also been trained in good governance, community lead advocacy and delivering inclusive WASH services for all.

To ensure effective management and sustained community fund for operation and maintenance, WaterAid Uganda is piloting the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) in seven communities in Amuria, Pallisa and Kibuku districts. In Wera Sub County, WaterAid is supporting the pilot of using Sub-county Water Supply and Sanitation Board a platform where community members engage with the water utility for improved service delivery.

Veronica Lowakori says: “Since soap is costly, in my family we use ash to wash our hands after visiting a latrine.” Photo: WaterAid/ James Kiyimba

The programme has continued to support district local governments to improve coordination among water; sanitation and hygiene actors in the target districts, contributing to strengthening coordinated planning, reporting and use of human rights based approach in resource allocation and programming.

WaterAid together with the programme implementing partners with gratitude acknowledge the support from the European Union. This generous contribution has enabled us reach many people in the target districts with access to sustainable safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. WaterAid Uganda will continue leveraging resources and partnerships to scale up investments and cost effective approaches and technologies to ensure sanitation and water for all in Uganda.

Rachel Mboneko from Kasongoire village share on what it takes to keep their village borehole working

Rachel Mboneko 44 years is a single mother of four children. She has been a care taker of Kasongoire village borehole, Masindi District since it was constructed in 2011. She shares her experience on what it takes to keep a village borehole working. “After construction of this borehole, we were called for a village meeting and a water users committee elected. Since the borehole is near my home, I was trained as a borehole caretaker.

My role entails the collecting of the user fee,

Rachel Mboneko the caretaker, she has a book where she registers all the people contributing to the operation and maintenance of the water source.

each household pays 1000 shillings monthly as a contribution to the operation and maintenance fund. For accountability, I have a book where people contributing sign and money collected is kept in our village bank. Some people don’t

want to contribute but it my responsibility to keep on reminding them. We use the money collected to carry out repairs on the water source. The most frequent repairs we do include the pump buckets and valves.

These minor repairs are easy to do because we have a trained hand pump mechanic in our village. For major repairs the districts helps us, the recent major repair involved changing of the pipes and this usually costs between 400,000 to 800,000 shillings depending on the number of pipes to replace. We shall always do what it takes to keep this water source working.�

For more information contact:

WaterAid Uganda, Plot 7, Kulubya Close, Bugolobi, P. O. Box 11759, Kampala, Uganda, Tel: +256 414 505795/7, Email: wauganda@wateraid.org; Web: www.wateraid.org/Uganda

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SPGS is a Uganda Government project under the Ministry of Water and Environment funded by the European Union and the Governments of Norway and Uganda.

EU support to Uganda’s Forestry Sector: Not a task for the faint hearted Opportunities and challenges of Uganda’s forestry The EU Delegation to Uganda led by H.E Ambassador Kristian Schmidt during a field visit to one of SPGS beneficiaries in Mubende in August 2014.

sector are of equal magnitude. Challenging issues however, are very complex and therefore do not get resolved over a short time span. Forestry developments are highly risky, and so not many partners would even want to

Hon. Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, Minister of Water and Environment.

involve themselves in such development.

However, the EU has bravely engaged in such a risky sector by supporting the development of over 47,000 hectares of timber plantations (2004-2013) in Uganda by over 500 private growers, through the Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS) project. SPGS’s role includes; grant management, training, technical services support for plantation establish-

ment, community engagement in tree growing as well as certification and standards development.

Commercial tree plantation development is perceived to be one of the key strategies that EU has deployed to effectively address the sector problem of insufficient timber/wood supply in the country.

The cause and effect diagram of SPGS project is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Cause and effect diagram of SPGS project Climate Change Effects

Land Degradation

Ecosystem degradation

Unfair competition to commercial tree planters

Low incomes due to no value addition and commercialisation of the raw products

Accelerated deforestation and forest degradation

Illegal logging

Strengthening of organised crime cartels

Illegal cross border timber trade INSUFFICIENT TIMBER/ WOOD SUPPLY

Bad management of forests

Encroachment

Low level and quality of wood processing

Failure to enforce existing legal framework

Low rate of afforestation and reforestation

Enforcement agencies are ineffective and corrupt

Unclear land ownership system/land grabbing

Forestry has been a low political priority

Lack of investment from private sector and lack of skills

Lack of resources for the central and local government, poor planning and lack of coordination

Constant increase of the need for timber in construction & industries

Charcoal/Biomass is the dominant energy source for 90% of the house holds

No access to alternative sources of energy and low awareness or energy efficiency/ energy saving methods

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The wood value chain trend A post-establishment step has been proposed to focus on downstream development of utilization and markets for wood-based products. With support from EU, SPGS is dedicated to implement a full range of activities, which are required to bring a product from conception, through the different

Bueno Dickens Sande, SPGS Project Manager.

Wood value chain PLANTING MATERIALS Seed Imports(Brazil, Australia, Costa Rica & South Africa) Domestic Source (SPGS Certified, NFA and Private nurseries) Local sources Unknown Sources

PRODUCTION

SPGS, NFA, private, Communities (Plantations) Natural forests (Reserves) Non-Ugandan Sources (DRC, South Sudan)

HARVESTING

Pit sawyers Chain saws Portable sawmills (Private companies, individuals)

TIMBER TRADE

PRIMARY PROCESSING

SECONDARY PROCESSING

CONSUMPTION

Timber dealers (many small associations) Large companies

Poles (Companies, SMEs) Sawn wood (Large companies, SMEs) Charcoal and Firewood (Companies, individuals, communities)

Informal sector (Joinery, Roof trusses, furniture) SMEs Large companies (Joinery, roof trusses, furniture, wood products)

Construction companies, Government procurement Hardware Individual buyers Parastatals & corporates Legal & illegal export

Legal timber 20% Illegal timber 80%

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ness across many facets of the forest based sector in order to develop innovative products and services for changing markets and consumer needs.

phases of production (involving a combination of physical transformation and the input of various producer services), up to marketing to the final consumer. The following value chain processes have been identified to boost competitive-

As modern value chains are strongly consumer driven, it is very important for the forest sector to have scientifically based information on current attitudes of the consumer in order to anticipate threats and opportunities and to enable forward looking decision making in the sector.

Commercial tree plantation development is one of the key strategies that EU has deployed to effectively address the key sector problem of insufficient timber/wood supply in the country

Elvis an SPGS client, demonstrates a simple machinery “woodmizer� for primary processing in the wood value addition process.

Abubaker, an SPGS supported tree nursery operator, explaining the process of raising Clonal eucalyptus planting material.

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Plan International Improves Lives of Children and Youth in Northern and Eastern Uganda with Support from the European Union Plan International’s work in youth economic empowerment and child protection are core aspects of its Uganda programming. With funding from the European Union, Plan International Uganda is implementing economic empowerment and child protection projects in Eastern and Northern Uganda. These three projects – Youth Economic Empowerment, Combating Silent Violence against Younger Children and Empowering Youth for Sustainable Livelihoods – have already impacted over 9,000 children and youth, ensuring they can access economic opportunities, are gaining school readiness skills and are safe from violence.

Economically empowering youth For four years (2010-2014), Plan International Uganda implemented the EC-funded Youth Economic Empowerment Project (YEEP), in partnership with Bukedi Diocese in Tororo and Concerned Parents Association (CPA) in Lira. The project was based in the sub-counties of Osukuru, Kwapa, Molo and Kisoko in Tororo district and Aloi, Barr and Apala in Lira and Alebtong districts. The overall goal was to provide 3,000 youth with vocational and life skills, employment and apprenticeship, and a role in local government decision-making.

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YEEP was specifically designed to align with the Government of Uganda’s National Development Plan 2010-2015 and contributed to UN Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) 1 and 3: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and promoting gender equality and empowering women.

By the end of the project in 2014, a total of 3,083 had received vocational and apprenticeship training in a range of technical skills, life skills and business skills.

As a result of the project, youth achieved a steady flow of income and access to government funds. The project also built the capacity of 5 training institutions and 16 artisans to train and work with youth to help them grow their livelihoods. The success of the project has, in turn, benefited youths’ families, as they are now able to contribute to family earnings with their own income-generating activities. Finally, the project broke down gender norms, involving women in traditionally

male trades (like motor mechanics) and vice versa (like tailoring).

Building on the legacy of YEEP in Northern Uganda At the beginning of 2015, Plan International Uganda began implementing the three-and-a-half-

year (2015-2017), EC-funded Empowering Youth for Sustainable Livelihoods Project, in partnership with CPA, Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO) and Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO). The project is being implemented in the sub-counties of Akura, Abako and Amugo in Alebtong district and Agweng in Lira district.

EU and Plan International committed to prevent violence against children in Northern Uganda Beneficiary youth in their work station doing welding and metal fabrication.

While similar to YEEP, the new project is specifically targeting Northern Uganda, where many youth are still grappling with the repercussions of LRA insurgency that lasted for 12 years, from 1994-2006, in that region.

The project aims to contribute to peace, recovery and development in post-conflict Northern Uganda by supporting the livelihoods and reintegration of youth through increased access to employment via foundational, transferable, technical and vocational skills, access to financial services, and stronger engagement with local and private actors.

By the end of the project, 1,600 marginalised young women and men will have achieved a broad range of opportunities, including technical and vocational skills, access to financial services, psychosocial support and the ability to engage with local government and the private sector to represent their interests. Supported stakeholders will include 10 youth-led organisations, 6 farmers’ organisations, 80 youth savings and loan groups, 2 training institutions, 40 private businesses, and 40 model artisans.

With funding from the European Union, Plan Uganda, in partnership with Lango Samaritan Initiative (LSIO), Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) and Facilitation for Peace and Development (FAPAD), is implementing a three-year (October 2013 - October 2016) project titled “Combating Silent Violence against Younger Children in the Post-Conflict Districts of Northern Uganda (EC-VAC)”. The project covers 10 selected sub-counties from 5 districts of Lira, Kole, Alebtong, Oyam and Apac.

EC-VAC aims to contribute to the reduction of all forms of violence against children within homes and communities using the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) approach as a key strategy.

At the onset of the project intervention, there were no ECCD centres in any of the 10 selected sub-counties.

Since the inception of the project in October 2013, the communities and implementing partners have established 50 functional centres in 50 parishes within the 5 project districts.

To date, 6,488 children (3,158 boys and 3,330 girls) aged 4-5 have been enrolled to learn school readiness skills (numeracy and literacy) and improve their socialemotional and physical development through group play at the centres. In addition, 2,000 parents have been

Testimonies

Betty, who dropped out of school in senior two after getting pregnant, studied knitting as a beneficiary of the project. In her new knitting business, she has received over 1,000 orders for sweaters. “Life has greatly transformed for the better…even as a single parent I am able to cloth and educate my child in a very good school where everyone knows that he will have a future,” Betty said.

Walter, 23 years, who received agriculture training after dropping out of senior six also found the project life-changing. “Before the project, I was lost in life. I had no direction on what to do next. Imagining that I had to farm the land like other primary seven graduates disgusted me.

I often felt that it was useless to go to school.

At one point I had to migrate to another town where I was selling my labour at almost no cost,” Walter said.

After the training, Walter was able to return home and received one acre of land from his father to start a new life. “From my farming income, I am able to pay school fees for my young sisters. I am considered as a wealthy youth at my village.”

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trained in positive parenting to reduce violence against children at the family level.

One caregiver, who teaches at an ECCD centre in Adeknino sub-county, Dokolo district, noted the great advantage that the centres provide for children in giving them a leg up for primary school. “The children in our ECCD centres are smarter than most of the children who are already in Primary One thanks to this project,” she said.

Child protection committees’ efforts to curb violence against children

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The project has also strengthened community child protection systems by equipping 250 child protection committee (CPC) members with skills and equipment (such as bicycles) across the 5 districts to respond to cases of violence against children. CPCs are informal, community-based child protection structures that work closely with child actors, such as community development officers, at the sub-county the level to respond to and prevent violence against children.

Since the start of the project, 523 cases of violence against children have been reported by the CPCs, with 452 non-criminal cases settled through mediation and counselling. The referral system for handling child abuse cases has also been strengthened through facilitation of the monthly and quarterly coordination meetings among child protection structures at the parish, sub-county and district levels.

The launch of the Empowering Youth for Sustainable Livelihoods Project.

Partnering with the government to protect children To strengthen policy and legislation on the welfare of children in Uganda, the project is supporting UWOPA roundtable committees to lobby relevant parliamentary committees for more budgetary allocation to children’s programmes and to influence the legislation that promotes children’s rights.

Appreciation

Plan International Uganda extends its appreciation to European Union, whose funding has allowed us to continuously work toward changing the lives of children and youth in Uganda. We are committed to working together with the EU to create sustainable opportunities for youth and protect the lives of marginalised children in this nation.

Plan is an international child-centred community development organisation without political, religious or governmental affiliation.

Plan International aims to reach as many children as possible, particularly those who are excluded or marginalised, with high quality programmes. Plan International has been operating in Uganda since 1992 and currently has programmes in Tororo, Luwero, Kamuli, Lira and Alebtong districts, as well as an urban programme in Kawempe divisions of Kampala and a refugee programme in Adjumani.

Plan International Uganda Plot 126 Luthuli Avenue, Bugolobi, Kampala – Uganda Tel: +256 414 305 000, Fax: +256 414 505 005 Web: www.plan-international.org Twitter.com/PlanUganda Facebook.com/PlanUganda

The chairperson LC III, Omoro sub-county, handing over bicycles to the local child protection committee.

Austrian Development Cooperation with Uganda The Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) is part of Austrian foreign policy. Since the mid-1980s, Austria and Uganda have fostered their close development cooperation and enjoyed a lively cultural exchange. In 1993, Uganda became a priority country for ADC.

T

o enhance its development, Uganda seeks to stimulate economic growth through investments in infrastructure, agricultural production and the private sector. Austria supports Uganda in providing basic services, such as access to clean water and access to justice. The regional focus lies on Northern Uganda, which is still recovering from a 20-year conflict.

Policies and programmes are jointly agreed upon with the Government of Uganda. ADC also coordinates its interventions with the EU and with the local donor community.

Water is life Access to affordable safe drinking water and sanitary facilities is crucial for a healthy life and for development. The Austrian Development Cooperation assists Uganda to set up sustainable water supply and basic sanitation systems, particularly in small towns

55

and rural growth centres with increasing population.

Austria’s commitment in the Water and Sanitation Sector focuses on:

Fostering financing mechanisms for infrastructure development, namely the regional Water and Sanitation Development Facilities (WSDF), Supporting the institutional and organisational establishment of appropriate operation and maintenance structures and processes, Enhancing integrated water resource management at local levels to reduce the vulnerability to climate change and prevent possible conflicts, and Raising awareness among the population and promoting sanitation and hygiene as key pillars for sustainable water resource management.

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More and more Ugandans, especially the poor, women and vulnerable groups, benefit from ADC’s activities, most of which jointly with the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment and District Local Governments, partly with non-governmental organisations. Projects with SNV and Concern Worldwide that were launched in 2014 will bring more sustainable safe water supply to more than 600.000 people in Northern Uganda.

ADC is implementing the project “Water Supply and Sanitation Development in Small Towns and Rural Growth Centres” under delegated cooperation. The project cost is 33.9 million Euro, whereby the EU provides €30.5 million (from the EU MDG Initiative, 10th EDF) and the Ugandan government €3.4 million. The project aims to provide safe and reliable piped water and improved sanitation facilities for 350,000 people living in the South Western and Eastern parts of Uganda. Other outputs include technical assistance towards the development of an Improved Sanitation and Hygiene Implementation Manual for small towns and a Results Based Monitoring and Reporting System for the urban water supply department of the Ministry of Water and Environment, the main implementing partner.

Since the start of the project in December 2012, 178,000 people have already gained access to safe water supply, basic latrine coverage in the completed towns has increased from 68% to 100%, and hand washing with soap has increased from 36% to 58%.

Access to justice for all Rule of law, access to justice, respect for human rights and an effective legal environment is what people need to feel secure. It is what contributes to

poverty reduction, sustainable peace and development, social inclusion and equality.

Austria supports the Justice Law and Order Sector in Uganda as well as civil society organisations in:

Fostering human rights, especially those of women and children, Enabling poor and marginalised people gain access to justice, and enhancing justice in conflictaffected areas, and Promoting transitional justice approaches.

Uganda has over the years made significant strides in eliminating discrimination against women and girls at all levels through the ratification and implementation of a number of national and international gender sensitive laws and policies.

The Austrian Development Cooperation directly supports their implementation on a local level.

Despite the positive advances regarding women’s rights, women – especially widows – and children still have the least opportunities to claim their rights and to access justice and social services. It is therefore that Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) with support from ADC is promoting accountability for quality service delivery in the justice, water, education and

health sectors as well as protection of the rights of women and girls in Northern Uganda.

ADC supports the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) with €1.7 million and also manages the European Union’s contribution of €3.5 million to the DGF under delegated cooperation. The DGF, created in 2011 by eight of Uganda’s Development Partners, works with both civil society organisations and state institutions to strengthen democracy, protect human rights, improve access to justice, and enhance accountability in Uganda.

Through a network of more than 80 active partner organisations in Uganda, the DGF-supported work is directly impacting upon the lives of Uganda’s citizens, including by providing support to communities in some of the most remote parts of Uganda.

ADC’s support to the DGF focuses on access to justice including provision of legal aid, mainstreaming of gender and human rights standards and promotion of alternative conflict resolution and transitional justice. With ADC’s and other Development Partners’ contributions, in 2014 DGF’s Legal Aid Programme partners provided legal aid services to almost 2 million Ugandan women and men, in particular the poor, vulnerable and marginalized persons.

UWONET is strengthening civil society in Northern Uganda through civic education / Copyright ADA

Partners in business When the private sector and development join hands, real win-win situations are generated. The Austrian Development Cooperation Business Partnership Programme pools entrepreneurial spirit with sustainable business ideas to contribute to social gain. Austrian, EU and Swiss companies are eligible for cofunding of up to 50% of direct project costs when creating joint ventures with Ugandan partners. This reduces the investment risk for

the European partner. High quality proposals typically comprise aspects that enhance product quality, promote fair trade principles, help Ugandan partners access foreign markets, foster gender equality or improve social standards and working conditions.

“For the first time in my life I was able to buy a mattress. Now I am sleeping much better. And I owe all that to the fact that I grow chili and sell it for a fair price.” Says Opolot Justine, a man from Northern Uganda. Like Justine, 5,000 farmers in Northern Uganda profit from the Austrian Development Cooperation Business Partnership Programme.

Contact details:

Coordination Office for Development Cooperation Austrian Embassy, Kampala Crusader House 3, Portal Avenue, P. O. Box 7457, Kampala Kampala@ada.gv.at www.entwicklung.at/en

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Belgium – Uganda Cooperation Uganda has been a partner country of Belgium for almost two decades. Through intense cooperation Belgium supports the socio-economic development of the country and the endeavor of its political leadership to transform Uganda into a modern, prosperous state. Belgian development cooperation focuses on health, education and climate change. Although Uganda still faces many challenges, Belgium sees mostly opportunities. It considers Uganda as an important partner to obtain economic growth and stability in The Great Lake Region.

Amb. Alain Hanssen, Belgian Embassy - Uganda

Bilateral Cooperation between Belgium and Uganda started in 1995. At the time, cooperation between both countries focused mainly on projects in the transport and telecommunication sectors and on institutional capacity building at local government level. The current bilateral cooperation programme amounts to a total sum of â‚Ź64 million covering a period of 4 years.

In each development partner country, Belgium restricts its activities to two sectors. In Uganda

these sectors are Health Care and Education/Training. The execution of the bilateral cooperation initiatives is the exclusive domain of the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC), an independent agency responsible for implementing all projects and programmes within the bilateral framework.

Belgium’s assistance to the Ugandan health sector includes two important projects that aim to reinforce simultaneously the public health system (ICB Project) as well as the Private-Non-For-Profit sector

strengthening the planning, leadership and management capacities of the public health staff – particularly at local government level. It also supports an ambulance service and a referral system. This project will be prolonged with another three years. Belgium remains convinced that both the PNFP and ICB projects will guarantee accessible, affordable and quality health services in the targeted regions.

(PNFP). The objective of the PNFP project is to deepen the cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the private, often faith based health centers in the countryside. Enhanced cooperation will allow these private health providers to better align their activities with the Ministry and their public counterparts. Such alignment is crucial for creating a functioning and sustainable health system that in the long run will extend basic health services to remote areas and impoverished regions. Because of Belgium’s particular history and the important role that civil society has played during

the past century in creating a performant welfare state, the Private-Non-Profit sector is not seen as separated from both the health and education sectors but, on the contrary, as a vital part of both systems.

The Institutional Capacity Building project (ICB) on the other hand targets the public sector and aims at

In an ever changing development landscape, modalities and strategies need to adapt almost constantly.

One of the most innovative strategies that was recently proposed by the Ministry of Health is the development of a result based financing-mechanism (RBF) to cover the operational cost of health facilities and hospitals. This exercise is still in a preliminary phase but as a member of the Health Development Partners group (HDP), Belgium strongly supports this strategy that was originally developed by the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp and that has now been endorsed by international organisations such as the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

With regards to the education sector, Belgium concentrates its efforts on teachers’ training for secondary schools. Support is given to four national teachers training colleges through the rehabilitation of infrastructure and the providing of teaching equip-

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ment in order to improve the teaching and learning environment. In addition, Belgium supports the business, technical and vocational education and training - better known as Business, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) - for which the government developed a long term strategic plan titled ‘Skilling Uganda’. The objective of Skilling Uganda is to drastically reform the business, technical vocational education the coming ten years and to transform it from a sub sector into an efficient and independent part of the Ugandan education system. This will allow BTVET to shift its focus from merely issuing

educational certificates to really developing the technical skills of its students with regards to employment, productivity and growth. Today, teaching in Uganda is too theoretical and too much based on the pure transmission of theoretical knowledge by a teacher who speaks while pupils can only listen and take notes.

This approach is outdated and produces poor technicians who lack the necessary skills and competencies relevant to the labor market and this diminishes their changes with regards to employment later. Seeing the huge number of unemployed young people in Uganda, there seems little time to lose. Urgent action

is needed to support the Ugandan government in its objective to transform Uganda into a modern and prosperous country in the next thirty years. This objective is a political priority for Ugandan policy makers and Belgium supports its partner country in this endeavor, strengthening competitiveness with regards to sustainable wealth creation, employment and inclusive growth.

Of course, Belgian development cooperation focuses on more than just education and health. Also transversal themes such as gender, good governance and

environment (including climate change) play a central role in Belgium’s approach to development issues.

Firstly, Belgium considers the safeguarding of the environment and the struggle against climate change as global challenges for which action can no longer be postponed. Therefore Belgium is assisting Uganda in reinforcing its technical capacity allowing the country to make better use of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and further develop its environmental policy. Through delegated cooperation with the FAO, Belgium also tries to make farmers in the cattle belt more resilient against the background of climate change and shrinking pasture grounds.

Gender and human rights are also cornerstones of Belgium’s development policy, written down even in the new law regarding development cooperation.

During a recent visit to the United Nations in New York, Mr. Alexander De Croo, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation, stressed the importance of women’s rights and stated that these are crucial for socio-economic development. ‘Despite the fact that half of the world’s population are women’, said the Minister, ‘too many of these young women and girls are still fighting for the right to education, to marry freely and to make their own decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health.’

Finally, Belgium channels also important funds to

non-governmental actors and universities, international organisations, humanitarian organisations and to the private sector – the latter through the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO). The country works with different partners and institutions, and is a core funder of more than 20 international development organisations, most of them active in Uganda : UNICEF, UNHCR, FAO, ICRC, etc.

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aBi promotes private sector agribusiness in Uganda The Agricultural Business Initiative (aBi) is a multistakeholder entity co-founded in July 2010 by the Governments of Denmark and Uganda with an objective of promoting private sector agribusiness development to enhance wealth creation in Uganda. aBi Trust acts as a vehicle for channeling financial and technical support to beneficiaries and partners for agribusiness development whilst supporting the Government of Uganda and the private sector in achieving the objectives of the Competitiveness and Investment Climate Strategy (CICS).

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aBi Finance is the investment arm of aBi Trust that aims to enable the Trust meet its programme activities in a sustainable manner by offering financing for agribusiness development through various financing mechanisms.

With a vision to have competitive, private sector led agriculture in Uganda, aBi’s sub-components work towards strengthening competitiveness of the agricultural and agro-processing sectors through three interrelated components of Value Chain Development (VCD) including trade-related Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary and Quality Management Systems (SPS/QMS), Financial Services Development (FSD) and aBi Finance.

After four years of aBi’s existence, impact assessment results indicate an increased rate of adoption of Good

In the above mentioned period, aBi reached 214,497 beneficiaries created 99,187 full time jobs, and created income for farmers of over 122 billion.

In addition, 259 Small Medium Enterprises benefitted whilst 144,155 savings clients were realized accounting for over 31 billion under Financial Services Development interventions.

Having worked with 63 projects in 2014, aBi reached a total of 239,483 farmers, creating 20,103 full time employment and UShs240 billion in additional revenue for farmers.

Agricultural Practices of 50% and increased acreage of crop production under the supported value chains of cereals, Pulses, Coffee, Oilseeds, Horticulture and Dairy. The main intervention areas in value chain development included; establishment of demo plots, value addition, storage facilities, farmer training in various Good Agricultural Production and Post-Harvest handling, Sanitary & Phyto-Sanitary, and quality Management Systems.

The Financial Services Development reached 182,219 beneficiaries and loans were provided to 64,058 clients. At the close of 2014, a total of UShs46 billion was lent to 13 Financial Institutions as Lines of Credit for on-lending to Agribusinesses, which generated 10,996 new agribusiness loans valued at UShs51 billion. At the same time, 20,983 new agribusiness loans valued at UShs85 billion were the result of aBi partnership with 13 Financial Institutions on the Agri-

business Loan Guarantee Scheme. Such interventions are steps to addressing the constraint of inadequate access to finance for agribusiness and rural development in Uganda.

As a key partner to Government of Uganda in supporting the private sector’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) agribusinesses and small holder farmers to raise incomes at household level, create employment and ultimately, the country’s economic growth, aBi exhibits commitment to the development of agribusiness sector thus becoming increasingly relevant.

Using a Value Chain Development approach, efforts to steer more towards climate-smart agricultural techniques, commenced in 2013, through interventions which promote soil conservation; mulching; top dressing; trough irrigation; mixed and inter cropping; basin technology and minimum tillage; water harvesting and irrigation, water recycling from coffee washing stations; use of energy saving generators and coolers and use of solar driers in specific value chains. The same is expected to be well integrated in all interventions going forward.

Human Rights Based Approaches are integrated in interventions through sensitizing farmers to employ non-discrimination in their work by encouraging participation of categories of people such as youth, females, people with disabilities and people living with

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HIV/AIDS; promotion of financial literacy through partner financial institutions to ensure much needed transparency and accountability in the financial services sector; promotion of good governance and leadership through the training, sensitization and mentorship of partners; promotion of access to financing for underserved categories by gender and location in partnership with financial institutions. aBi takes a unique approach to integrating gender in

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interventions by using a household approach, which has been particularly successful in the Coffee Value Chain. In 2014, 52 implementing partners under various value chains registered a total of 14,015 households trained and sensitized by 716 gender change agents on joint planning and decision making and as a result, a total of 4,437 households now plan together and have embraced farming as a family business, culminating in improved productivity and incomes.

aBi’s long-term commitment as a catalyst in support of the Ugandan agricultural sector remains a key conduit through which development partners such as Denmark, The Netherlands, the European Union, Sweden and USAID can build the capacity of the agricultural sector.

For more information about aBi, please refer to www. abi.co.ug.

France: Supporting a climate resilient development strategy in Uganda A founding member of the European Union and a major contributor to the European Development Fund, France is an active player both within and outside Europe. France in Uganda is supporting a number of projects in the priority sectors identified in the National Development Plan, together with the European Union and the other EU Member States represented in the country.

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he Embassy is currently focusing on Uganda’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) and initiatives to mitigate climate change ahead of the UN climate change conference (COP21) due in Paris from 30th November to 11th December 2015.

France is working to ensure that this conference achieves its main objective of reaching a new universal and legally binding agreement on climate change that would check global warming below 2°C. By supporting a sustainable low-carbon development and climate resilience strategy in Uganda, France hopes to contribute to protecting and preserving the country’s rich biodiversity against climate change but also promote tourism for the economy and improve the livelihoods of local communities whose participation in innovative environmentally-friendly projects is providing the agenda of solutions envisaged

among the key pillars of the 2015 Paris climate conference.

Towards Paris’ COP 21 Climate Change conference: supporting the INDC process

In its capacity as the host and future chair of COP21, France is duty-bound to support Uganda as its gets ready for the COP21. The ball was set rolling on the road to Paris with the first INDC workshop organized in Kampala on the 26th of March 2015, with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM).

H.E. Sophie Makame, Ambassador of France to Uganda

This event provided an opportunity for the Minister of Water and Environment, Ephraim Kamuntu, and the Ambassador of France to Uganda, Sophie Makame, to set the agenda and underscore the importance of the Paris alliance to address the challenges that Uganda

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and other African countries face in reducing the threat of rising temperatures.

Ambassador Makame also used this opportunity to congratulate Uganda for its mobilization for COP21 and its willingness to mainstream climate change in a sustainable development strategy, giving the example of AFD’s support and partnership with KCCA on climate change strategy.

Supporting a sustainable low-carbon development and climate resilience strategy in Uganda In order to support the Uganda sustainable development strategy, France has also been leading many interventions through environmentally sustainable

Bujagali Dam on the Nile River

H.E. Sophie Makame, and Hon. Ephraim Kamuntu, launching the INDC.

projects, proving that environment concerns and development are indeed compatible. It has been notably focusing both on renewable energies development and water and sanitation management. Â In the field of infrastructures, the Bujagali hydroelectric dam illustrates France commitment in support of the development priority areas as identified

by Ugandan authorities.

In 2007, AFD cofinanced the construction of this dam and its 250 MW power

plant putting emphasis on additional mitigation measures for the environmental and social impacts caused by its construction. Now accomplished, this dam is contributing to Uganda’s development through the production of sustainable energy.

Another example which disproves the notion that development and ecology are incompatible is the Muzizi hydro-power plant. This project, expected to be commissioned in 2020, is located in the Western part of Uganda on the Muzizi river, and has the objective of improving electricity supplies, with cost-efficient and sustainable energy. KfW and AFD intend to jointly finance the project with a combination of concessional loans and grant funding.

Besides the electric projects, since 2011, together with KfW, EIB and the EU-ITF, AFD has also committed to improving access to safe water and sanitation for Kampala. The WATSAN project allows Uganda to meet its development needs considering the demographic trend while addressing the environmental challenge of enhancing water quality through waste management.

In total, AFD group committed more than €224m, mainly in energy, water and sanitation, and environment projects, co-financed by the EU-Investment Trust Fund, EIB, KFW and Norway.

Preserving biodiversity in the context of climate change is preserving the identity of Uganda and promoting tourism for the economy and local communities

If Uganda is known as the Pearl of Africa, it is certainly on account of its rich biodiversity, a fragile natural resource that needs to be protected at all costs both as a natural heritage and an asset for promoting tourism.

In response to this urgent need, the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) and the EU decided to co-finance a project aimed at promoting sustainable funding mechanisms to benefit the Rwenzori Mountain National Park. This project implemented

by WWF France and WWF Uganda also supports sustainable livelihoods for local communities by preserving the eco-system and strengthening water

resources management. It is indeed a reflection of the common interests of France and Uganda, as reaffirmed last February in Paris during a meeting between Hon. Maria Mutagamba, Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, and her French counterpart, Mrs. Segolène Royal, on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition “On the tracks of the great apes” being hosted until March 2016 by the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. As an echo, the launch of a photo exhibition on the same theme, displayed on the walls of the French Embassy in Kampala, was yet an opportunity for the Minister to illustrate to the Ugandans the urgent need to protect the great apes and their habitat.

Promoting home-grown solutions to climate change fitting into the “agenda of solutions”: the SDF small grants program

Environmental conservation features prominently on most of France’s interventions in Uganda. This is the case with the Embassy’s Social Development Fund (SDF) which has been offering small grants to at least 84 NGOs and CBOs since 2002, with the aim of stimulating sustainable local development initiatives and strengthening civil society. For example, the Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) initiative is promoting biodiversity conservation and community health through education, prevention and control of disease transmission between wildlife, livestock and people around the Pian Upe natural reserve in

The Rwenzori Mountains

the Karamoja sub region. The African Prison Project (APP), another SDF funded project in Karamoja, is an innovative initiative addressing sanitation and environmental challenges using a bio-gas toilet system that creates an improved environment for the whole Namalu prison community. The innovative projects mentioned above, and many others, fit well into the “agenda of solutions”, constituting one of the four pillars of the Paris climate conference.

For more information on French interventions in Uganda or COP21:

http://www.ambafrance-ug.org/-EnglishFacebook: Ambassade de France en Ouganda - Embassy of France in Uganda http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en Facebook: COP21 United Nations Negociations

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Ugandan German Development Cooperation

In 1964 the first agreement on cooperation was signed between Germany and Uganda, and this has led to an ever deepening partnership between the two countries. Last year the 50 years anniversary of Ugandan-German development cooperation was celebrated.

The over-arching objectives of the partnership are the build-up of internal peace, democracy, rule of law and social and economic development in Uganda. Germany contributes to tackling challenges such as the reduction of poverty; development of infrastructure; tapping the great agricultural and mineral potential; overcoming regional disparities between North and South; fight for equality, human rights, transparency and against corruption.

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Germany’s activities mainly focus on three sectors: Water and Sanitation, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and Financial Systems Development/ Agricultural Finance. Across these sectors, German Development Cooperation co-finances investments through KfW Development Bank and provides Technical Assistance through GIZ – both state-owned implementing agencies. The current Ugandan-

German development cooperation portfolio contains projects with a total volume of €440 million in grants and loans.

German Development Cooperation furthermore addresses cross-cutting issues, in particular by supporting reforms in Public Financial Management. It also focuses on promoting human rights, contributing to peace-consolidation and improving livelihoods, particularly in Karamoja and other parts of Northern Uganda. Cooperating with the private sector and providing scholarships in the education sector are further facets of Germany’s supporting activities in Uganda.

In the various programme areas, German bilateral development cooperation collaborates with Ugandan partners on all levels. Partnerships exist on the national level with ministries, the Bank of Uganda,

autonomous bodies like the Uganda Human Rights Commission and state-owned enterprises such as the National Water and Sewerage Corporation and on the intermediate level with local governments, universities and the private sector. Germany also emphasises the collaboration on the local level, directly with the community groups such as Village Saving Organisations, farmer associations, trader groups etc.

Besides government-to-government cooperation Germany also promotes development in Uganda through non-state actors, namely German foundations, and other Non Government Organisations.

The German Government funds various regional development programmes. Some funding is open to all African countries while other funds are specifically aimed at supporting regional organisations like

German Ambassador Dr. Peter Blomeyer visiting the GIZ implemented Karamoja Climate Change Adaption (CCA) project

the African Union (AU), the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) or the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and their Member States including Uganda. A regional organisation based in Uganda that has been receiving support by German Technical Cooperation is the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

Germany extends substantial financial support to Uganda through its contributions to multilateral organisations that fund programmes in Uganda.

As the largest single contributor to the European Development Fund and one of the top contributors to World Bank, African Development Bank and United Nations development activities, the German Government indirectly contributes an estimated

₏60 million annually to Uganda’s development, in addition to the bilateral and regional programmes.

All these activities are complemented by hundreds of private initiatives for development in which Ugandans and Germans are cooperating on a voluntary basis for the benefit of disadvantaged people.

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German Development Cooperation implemented

by KfW and GIZ – two project examples The GET Fit Uganda Program Supporting the development of 170 MW of clean, renewable energies through the private sector, thereby increasing Uganda’s power generation capacities by 20%, avoiding 11 million tons of CO² emissions and facilitating the connection of 200,000 additional households to the electricity grid – these are the objectives of the GET FiT Uganda Program The initiative is being spearheaded and implemented by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), the Government of Uganda and the German Development Bank KfW. Funding for the €90 million Programme comes from the Governments of Norway, Germany, UK and the European Union – making GET FiT a successful model for donor coordination and harmonization among European member states.

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The Programme is designed to address key barriers for private investments in small renewable energy projects (1-20 MW). The main feature of the Programme is a

results-based premium payment to top-up the national Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff (REFiT), technical assistance to the regulator and a Partial Risk Guarantee provided by the World Bank.

Projects are selected in competitive tender rounds based on technical, financial as well as environmental and social criteria. So far, GET FiT has approved support to 14 projects (hydro, biomass, bagasse, solar) with a planned capacity of 128 MW. Five projects are expected to start construction in the first half of 2015 and another 15 have applied for support.

Kakira Sugar co-production of electricity through bagasse

Thanks to GET FiT, Uganda has become a frontrunner in Sub-Saharan Africa in attracting private investments into the energy sector: Private developers will invest US$ 500 million over the next two years.

Agribusiness management in agricultural value chains A smartphone-based IT system developed by SAP ensures traceability, efficiency and facilitates access to trainings and formal financial services.

In the framework of a development partnership between GIZ and SAP AG, SAP has developed innovative mobile applications for the digital inclusion of small-scale producers. The software provides solutions related to market linkages and transparency within the production and processing of different value chains.

In Uganda, the application was adapted to the coffee and sesame sector with local partner companies such as the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance (UCFA), Ugacof and the Gulu Agriculture Development Company (GADC). GIZ supports local partners in introducing the application which was implemented by the Agricultural and Rural Finance Programme (AGRUFIN).

Initial needs assessments, trainings as well as ongoing support and capacity development are handled by GIZ, while SAP is providing the technology, adapted to the Ugandan agricultural sector.

From the beginning, the GIZ AGRUFIN Programme focused on enhancing the supply chain management functionalities of the SAP smartphone application by integrating different aspects of financial service delivery. In a first step, mobile money payment

functionalities were integrated. In addition, GIZ Uganda was recently commissioned to develop a loan and savings product for the application together with a partner bank. The digital track record generated by the smartphone app, provides reliable information on production levels, deliveries and payments of each farmer. It serves as a guarantee and starting point for smallholder farmers to access tailor-made formal financial services. Moreover, GIZ supports trainings in financial literacy to increase awareness.

Apart from financial services, other functionalities, such as extension services, farmer surveys, baseline surveys and other aspects of M&E can be integrated into the smartphone app.

The application in use

Ireland: Forging Strong Partnerships in Uganda Irish Aid, the Government of Ireland’s official aid programme, has operated in Uganda since 1994, and has established strong partnerships aimed at poverty reduction. The programme builds on the solid work throughout the decades by Irish missionaries and NGOs – work that is still going strong today. The Irish Aid programme interventions are in the areas of HIV/AIDS, social protection, education, gender based violence prevention, governance and private sector development – with a special focus on Karamoja. An exciting new Country Strategy will be in place for 2016-2020.

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he Embassy of Ireland is also working to develop stronger trade ties between Uganda and Ireland, ties that are mutually beneficial and can contribute further to Uganda’s development (for example, there is an active Irish Business Network in Uganda and Enterprise Ireland is establishing an East African presence in Nairobi where an Irish Embassy has recently opened).

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In this way, Ireland will be able to build on its own economic recovery which has seen sustained momentum in the past 12 months, in terms of solid growth and job creation.

Irish Aid Supports Primary Education in Karamoja

The Karamoja sub-region has some of the lowest Human Development Indices in the country.

Education is one of the sectors affected and the region doesn’t score highly in its school access and retention rates.

Irish Aid is currently undertaking the construction and rehabilitation of 21 Primary Schools throughout the region, under the Karamoja Primary Education programme (KPEP).

The focus of KPEP is to support access and retention of pupils in Primary Schools, through

Old structures at Kasimeri Primary School, Moroto District

improvement of infrastructure of 3 schools in each of the 7 districts, benefitting 17,000 pupils in the Karamoja sub-region.

The infrastructure to be developed includes teacher’s housing, dormitories, classrooms and sanitation facilities. Rain-harvesting and tree planting, as a form of environmental conservation, is also included in the programme.

The support does not stop at infrastructure development but also includes the provision of

furniture and instructional materials.

Kasimeri Primary School in Moroto District is one of the schools that is benefitting under KPEP. The school currently has an enrolment of 953 pupils (501 boys and 452 girls). Through KPEP, the dilapidated structures that are used by both pupils and staff are being replaced with modern classrooms, dormitories and staff houses.

Importantly, the building designs ensure access for disabled users.

The Ministry of Education and Sports, Deloitte-Uganda, Proplan Partners and Turner & Townsend are the implementing partners in this project.

On-going construction of new structures at Kasimeri Primary School

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The Equator Turns Green for St. Patrick’s Day 2015 The Equator in Uganda turned green this March for Ireland’s National Holiday, St. Patrick’s Day – joining other iconic landmarks around the world in celebration of Ireland. Uganda Tourism Board and UMEME partnered with the Embassy of Ireland on this.

Did You Know?

Ireland has a population of just over 4.5 million, and has the youngest population in the EU (50% of the population is under 35).

Ireland’s economy has rebounded and grew by almost 5% in 2014, with growth of 4% expected in 2015 - the highest growth rates in the EU in both years.

Forbes magazine ranks Ireland as the best country in the Eurozone for business and one of the top four countries for business in the world.

Ireland’s agri-food sector increased exports by 45% since 2009 to reach a record value of almost €10.5 billion in 2014. Ireland is the largest exporter of beef in the northern hemisphere.

Over 3,300 foreign-owned companies have put down roots in Ireland. These include over 1,200 of the world’s most successful global businesses, which have chosen Ireland as their strategic base in Europe, exporting goods and services worth €124.5 billion in 2013.

There were 7.6 million overseas visits to Ireland in 2014, an increase of almost 9% on the previous year.

The first commercial airline route between Africa and Ireland will be opened this year by Ethiopian Airlines (linking Addis Ababa and Dublin).

The Lonely Planet has just ranked Ireland fifth on its list of the Top 10 in the world to visit in 2015.

Ireland has a reputation for rain but is only the 80th wettest country in the world!

Italian Cooperation in Uganda Italian development aid in Uganda is now almost a hundred years old: it has grown on different levels and in a variety of settings, which are represented by the more institutionalized areas of intervention of the Italian Cooperation or by the voluntary works of solidarity of civil society, in the form of the NGOs, Trusts, and the individual experiences of the single development workers, medical doctors and operators. Since the end of the 19th century, Italian scholars, researchers and missionaries have studied Uganda with an interdisciplinary perspective, laying the foundations for what we define today “scientific and cultural cooperation”.

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n Uganda, as in the rest of the world, Italian Cooperation is active in pursuing the Millennium Development Goals, with special attention to the rights of the individual. The cooperation between the Italian and the Ugandan Government was formalized in 1974, by signing an Agreement of Bilateral Cooperation; 1993 a local technical Office was established in Kampala, as directly responsible for the aid.

Italian Cooperation is mostly active in education and health sectors, both within bilateral agreement and through multilateral finances to UN agencies, or through funding to Italian NGOs.

Examples of projects managed by the Italian Cooperation together with the Ugandan Government are: the “PPPH – Public Private Partnership to Health”, aimed to design a national health policy based on the partnership between public and private sector, and “Support to the Ugandan Strategic Health Plan”, in which the Cooperation provides technical assistance and logistical support to the Ugandan Ministry of Health.

The presence of Italian support is especially known in many health centers and hospitals in Northern Uganda, and the Italian Cooperation

has built on the legacy left by the Combonian fathers, who have reached Uganda at the end of 19th century: they have left quite an heritage, building hospitals that nowadays accommodate thousands of patients, who, thanks to the cooperation between Italian and Ugandan doctors, have been granted the access to a vast array of health services, from basic to specialized. Worth of Note are the outreach activities through Mobile Clinics, that provide basic health services to populations living more than 10km away from a health centre; as well as the rehabilitation and construction of health infrastructures and staff housing facilities so to improve attraction and

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retention of health staff in the remote periphery.

An invaluable role is played by Italian NGOs, acting as partners in these institutions. Among the many hospitals supported by the Italian Cooperation, we remember Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital in Kalongo, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kitgum, Lacor Hospital in Gulu, this latter being a reference point for South Sudanese sick persons too.

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The scientific collaboration between Italy and Uganda is a well established sector too: Italy collaborates with Makerere University promoting inter-university cooperation through agreement between Universities. Examples are the University of Turin’s “Ethnological Mission in Equatorial Africa”, which is studying the region of the Great Lakes since 2004, with anthropology, history and ethnomusicology projects, and the work done with CEDAT (College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology of Makerere University) on sustainable agriculture and recycling in the urban areas. The “Gulu – Nap project” is another example of collaboration supported by the Italian Cooperation, between the University of Naples and the Faculty of Medicine in Gulu,

which allowed for the development of a centre of excellence for medical education at the Lacor Hospital, with Italian instructors working in close contact with the local ones.

The Italian engagement is present in the agricultural field and food security in Karamoja and West Nile regions. The interventions of the Italian NGOs ACAV, SVI, C&D, ISP and AVSI - all of them operating in Uganda since the beginning of the ‘80s – is once again fundamental, as they promote sustainable agriculture, income generating activities through marketing of agricultural products, access to water and land reforestation.

Forthcoming initiatives encompass furthers expansion of housing for health staff in the North, entrusting additional funds to the MoH for €4.2 Million in a sort or earmarked sector budget support. Also the internationally renowned Italian NGO Emergency is in the process of building and managing a Pediatric Surgery Hospital in Entebbe, which will act as referral centre for the whole East African Sub – Region.

An invaluable role is played by Italian NGOs such as CUAMM, AISPO and Soleterre, acting as partners in these institutions.

Among the many hospitals supported by the Italian Cooperation, we remember Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital in Kalongo, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kitgum, Lacor Hospital in Gulu, this latter being a reference point for South Sudanese sick persons too.

The Netherlands and Uganda As a European I am proud to say that the Netherlands is one of the founding Member States of the European Union. Not the newest kid on the block and that applies to its bilateral relations with Uganda as well. The Netherlands is a solid and trusted development partner for Uganda for a period of more than 20 years.

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s a development partner the Netherlands is involved in the justice, law and order sector and in the sector of food security. This focus on justice, law and order and on food security aligns well with the focus of the Ugandan government on regional and national stability and its drive to market based economic growth.

Uganda in agrobusiness and farming. This is further underlined by the participation of the Netherlands’ Embassy in the ‘Best Farmer of Uganda’ contest. Notwithstanding the importance of agriculture, investors from the Netherlands are also active in shipbuilding and logistics, renewable energy and in the oil- and gas sector.

While the Netherlands continues to provide development support to Uganda, it is supporting Uganda’s commitment to move away from this more traditional aid towards trade. And successfully so.

If I look at the trade figures between the Netherlands and Uganda I see that the Netherlands is the key trading partner of Uganda in Europe. Total trade between the Netherlands and Uganda in 2014 is valued 388 billion shilling with a trade surplus for Uganda. As such, the Netherlands is one of the most important international export destinations for Uganda, even surpassing the importance of China.

These bilateral trade figures are almost four times the size of The Netherlands’ development cooperation support to Uganda.

The Netherlands focusses a substantial part of its support on climate smart development of the agricultural sector. The enormous potential for Ugandan agriculture fits in nicely with the position of the Netherlands as the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. Logically the Netherlands partner with

Alphons Hennekens, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

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Sweden in Uganda A

s we are moving into the 21st century, Sweden’s relationship with Uganda is evolving from being dominated by development related issues to having a broader agenda.

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Ambassador of Sweden Urban Andersson, Photo

by Catarina Axelsson

As opportunities for trade and investment in Uganda increase, it is no coincidence that four Swedish cabinet ministers have chosen to visit Uganda during the last couple of years. As an increasing level of Ugandan products enter the Swedish market, Swedish companies are also ready to offer Uganda sustainable quality products and services with low life-cycle costs, which meet the highest ethical and environmental standards. Doing business is not only about making profits for individual companies, it is also about creating productive jobs – both in Uganda and in Sweden. The trade and business relationship between Uganda and Sweden has great potential for further development. Sweden has a long term commitment to development and poverty reduction in Uganda.

In addition to trade and investments, the Swedish government decided on a new bilateral Result Strategy for Uganda in July 2014 covering the period 2014-2018. The planned total volume of bilateral aid for the period is approximately US$200 million.

The activities under the strategy aim to contribute to strengthening respect for human rights, enhancing the local population’s opportunities to make a living, achieve freedom from violence and obtain improved health in Uganda.

Further the strategy aims at strengthening democracy and gender equality as well as to improve opportunities for people living in poverty to contribute to and benefit from economic growth and obtain a good education.

In addition to bilateral aid flows from Sweden, Uganda benefits from substantial regional and global grants from Sweden that are channeled through regional organisations (AU, EAC), civil society and UN agencies. The total volume is therefore considerably higher than the bilateral aid.

Gender equality embraces all areas of Sweden’s development cooperation strategy in Uganda. In fact, working towards greater gender equality and ensuring women's rights are at the heart of the Swedish Government's foreign policy.

funds through Makerere University, also entailing four other regional universities in Uganda.

The Swedish Research Cooperation with Uganda was initiated in the year 2000 and the total disbursement since inception is 525 million SEK (US$66 million).

Head of Development Cooperation, First Lady of Uganda and Ambassador of Sweden, Photo by New Vision, PPU

Hence, Sweden was proud to join Uganda in the global campaign HeForShe during the International Women’s Day 2015. The campaign highlights that male engagement in achieving gender equality is critical and both Uganda and Sweden need more male champions and role models for gender equality.

The strengthening of child and maternal health in Uganda, Millennium Development Goal number 4 and 5, is a priority for Sweden. In line with this is the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ global initiative midwives4all.

The campaign, launched in Uganda in April 2015,

hopes to create awareness about the need to implement universal midwifery practices in order to improve maternal and child health. There is a need for improved access to child and maternal care, an area where Sweden has a great deal of expertise and a long presence in Uganda. Sweden’s development cooperation strategy also focuses on supporting improved access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for women and men, adolescents and youth in Uganda.

Sweden remains by far the largest funder of research capacity strengthening in Uganda. Under a separate strategy for Research Cooperation, Sweden provides

The main objective of the bilateral Research Cooperation has been to enhance capacity of public higher education institutions to conduct and sustain strategic and high quality research that will contribute to the development needs of Uganda and beyond through building a critical mass of independent researchers.

The main component in the research collaboration is PhD training with principally Swedish universities.

The current agreement entails support to 105 PhD students, 42 MA students and 20 Post-Doc researchers. The research areas are chosen by Uganda and cover natural and social sciences, humanities, and medicine.

The Swedish strategy is to support an autonomous research system, which gives opportunities for both Ugandan and Swedish researchers and students to advance academic exchange and pushing research frontiers for the benefit of all.

Additionally, the Swedish Institute has since 2007 given full scholarships to over 200 Ugandan students to do their masters in Sweden.

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Outline of the UK’s development assistance to Uganda The UK is Uganda’s second largest bilateral development partner, with a long history of development support. In 2013/14, the UK had over 20 programmes managed by the DFID office in Kampala. The combined spend that year was £94.7 million. This is in addition to many programmes that are managed by DFID in the UK, and our contribution of £71.5 million through multilateral organisations including the European Union, United Nations and Multilateral Development Banks.

In the last 12 months, the UK recorded its second year of meeting the UN target of spending 0.7% of Gross National InH.E. Alison Blackburne come on Official Development Assistance, and passed legislation to ensure that we continue to meet this target. We remain the only G7 country to meet the 0.7% target and one of five in the EU.

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Our programme is broad-ranging and closely aligned

to Government of Uganda’s priorities as set out in the National Development Plan, Vision 2040 and other key planning documents. The DFID Operational Plan (www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfiduganda-operational-plan-2014) sets out what and how we plan to deliver in Uganda, with allocated resources.

Our current priority areas are: ■■ Strengthening governance and security, and providing humanitarian assistance. We are working to promote democratic governance, human rights

Old structures at Kasimeri Primary School, Moroto District

and accountability. We are also strengthening Uganda’s anti-corruption and public financial management institutions to tackle corruption and hold the state to account. The UK is providing humanitarian support for refugees fleeing conflict in South Sudan and DRC. ■■ Helping Uganda to achieve off-track MDGs, including providing family planning services and supporting efforts to combat malaria. Our work

on gender is strengthening the policy environment and providing services for survivors of Gender Based Violence. The UK is leading support for the development of the national social protection system. Future support is planned to help improve the quality of education.

■■ Promoting growth and resilience by addressing some of the constraints to inclusive growth, including poor transport infrastructure and access to financial services, whilst supporting regional economic integration. Support for resilience to climate change has increased significantly, with investments in clean energy, resilience in the Karamoja region and a new private sector agriculture programme.

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Some of the key results which will have been achieved through UK support, over five years (2011-2016) are: 115,000 people with access to financial services;

20

almost 500,000 people benefit-

18

ting from cash transfer programmes;

16

almost 4.5 million insecticide-

14

treated bed nets distributed;

12

over 800,000 women using modern methods of contracep-

10

tion;

8

almost 500,000 people

6

reached with emergency food assistance;

4

over 600,000 people sup-

2

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Economic development

reproductive, Merternal & Newborne health

Poverty, Hunger & vulnerabilituy

Other health

Maralia

Humanitarian

HIV/AIDS

Governance & Security

Global partnershipas

Education

ported to cope with the effects Climate Change

0

of climate change.

Publisher’s Word

EU-Uganda collaboration breeds wide-ranging socio-economic progress Uganda’s friend and development partner, the European Union is today marking Europe Day.

I

n solidarity with the European Union, HAI Agency, the publisher of this magazine congratulates the European Union Member States upon the dividends they have realised, courtesy of this Union since its inception.

We also appreciate the EU’s continued commitment to standing with Uganda in her quest to shed the image we have had as a low-income and little-developed nation as we strive towards a middle-income and better-developed country by 2040.

We are also appreciative of the EU Delegation in Kampala for continued cooperation in making the success of this publication possible. Many thanks as well to the EU Member States in Uganda for their Contribution

Being Ugandan, we take this opportunity to ‘voice’ our gratitude to the EU for the developmental and meaningful partnerships it has had with our country.

The partnerships with Uganda government and the interventions it has supported have seen large sections of our population through a variety of development challenges.

Of particular significance is the support that Uganda has had with Karamoja Livelihoods Programme and northern Uganda’s ALREP, both of which initiatives have yielded far-reaching socio-economic improvements among the recipients. Equally significant is the EU’s contribution to the modernisation of our transport sector.

We look forward to working with the EU Delegation over the EDF 11 and beyond.

Justin K. Ojangole Coordinator

REYNOLDS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY (NIG) LTD RCC wishes the EU Head of Delegation & the European Union Member States a Happy Europe Day

We take Pride in being a partner in the Roads Development Programs Financed by the European Union Road Projects Financed by the EU and constructed by RCC:

Kagamba-Rukungiri Road

Jinja-Bugiri Road

Masaka - Mbarara Road

Mbarara-NtungamoKabale-Katuna Road Lot 2 and Lot 3

Plot 88 Luthuli Avenue, Bugolobi, P. O. Box 11713 Kampala, Uganda Tel: 0312-500 500, Email: sbi@sbi.co.ug, Website: www.sbi.co.ug